A roar rose up from the state Capitol steps, and then, after some singing, a little weeping and a lot of cheering, a multicolored crowd streamed down State Street.
"Immigration! Built this nation!" chanted about 250 marchers from the Immigrant Workers Freedom Ride, a transcontinental bus trek headed for Washington, D.C. When they arrived in Salt Lake City on Thursday afternoon for the rally and march, the Freedom Riders were met by scores of sign-waving supporters plus a few puzzled commuters.
The ride, inspired by the civil-rights movement's 1961 Freedom Rides into the Deep South, aims to raise national awareness for the causes of undocumented workers: They seek a clear road to citizenship and decent working conditions.
At the Capitol, Lt. Gov. Olene Walker spoke of Utah as an immigrant-friendly state. To rising cheers, she listed the policies that allow undocumented immigrants to obtain driver's licenses and attend state universities for the same tuition rate as citizens. And Sen. Ed Mayne, D-West Valley, read aloud HJR 28, a resolution endorsed by the 2003 Legislature urging Congress to revise U.S. immigration policy.
The throng of Freedom Riders and allies hollered its agreement in Spanish and English, as people of various skin tones held their placards high in the hot sun. "We want respect," read one. "Thou shalt not oppress the hireling," read another, carried by a member of Mormons for Equality and Social Justice.
In this officially English-only state, Freedom Ride supporters chanted, sang and conversed in Spanish, as if to demonstrate that the monolingual law is another policy that doesn't fit reality.
"It's about time we change this country's policies. We need a new policy that rewards work," said Ramon Ramirez, a ride organizer from Portland, Ore. Some of the farm workers on his bus pick blackberries or cucumbers for 11 cents a pound, and have no access to drinking water or restrooms throughout the work day. "Because of their undocumented status, they suffer a lot of abuses," Ramirez said.
"Immigrants are the backbone of this economy," he added. "They take jobs that (native-born) Americans won't take. They deserve legal status."
Cory Hilton, a Salt Laker and member of the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers, brought his young children out to support the Freedom Riders. "This country was founded on immigration," Hilton said, adding that undocumented workers pay $7 billion in taxes annually, yet most receive little or no benefits.
The Freedom Riders left the West Coast on Tuesday, and plan to reach Washington, D.C., Oct. 1. They have been met with open arms in most cities, according to San Francisco organizer Lisa Jaicks — except in Reno. About 20 people staged a counter-demonstration there, Jaicks said, adding that the Freedom Riders didn't enter into a confrontation with them.
In Salt Lake City, the riders and their supporters multiplied one another's energy. "Si se puede!" the crowd shouted, echoing the "Yes, we can" slogan of Cesar Chavez's struggle for farmworker rights.
Spanish is not, however, the native tongue for many Freedom Riders. Among them are Mikhail Komarov, a 54-year-old Russian who works as a security guard in San Francisco; Jing Lin, a Chinese-born grandmother who cleans rooms in that city's Fairmont Hotel; and Suely Ngouy, 22, who fled Cambodia's Khmer Rouge with her parents in 1983.
Ngouy doesn't mind all the Spanish. "We're all fighting for the same thing: immigrant rights," she said. Her father worked in a Los Angeles sweat shop for 11 years after her family arrived, and later drove a delivery truck to help put her through college. At first Ngouy's parents worried about her riding a bus across the United States. "But ultimately they supported what I'm doing, knowing that I'm doing it to honor them."
Peggy Christensen, 65, came to Thursday's rally out of concern for the immigrants who are exploited by American employers. Undocumented workers cross borders illegally out of desperation, she said, and because they can't earn a living wage in their native country. Christensen hopes for changes in U.S. policy that will emphasize human rights over borders. "The earth is here for all of us," she said. In the United States, "we certainly have more than our share."
Next week, the Freedom Riders plan to meet with members of Congress and urge them to work on policy changes to enable undocumented immigrants to apply for U.S. citizenship. Lin, the San Francisco hotel worker, hopes to remind lawmakers of an American ideal: "The U.S. is supposed to be a place of equality."
E-mail: durbani@desnews.com