ANCHORAGE, Alaska (AP) - Several hundred immigrants and their supporters rallied in Anchorage and Juneau on Monday to protest laws being considered in Congress that would bring harsher penalties for illegal immigrants.
The after-work rally on the Delaney Park Strip in Anchorage attracted at least 1,000 protesters, organizers said. A police estimate of the crowd size was not immediately available.
"I'm overwhelmed with the participation of the community. We were very happy. It was a success," said Angela Jimenez, an organizer and member of the Coalition of Immigrants of Alaska.
The Anchorage protest was one of dozens across the country, as more than 1 million people poured into the streets in a nationwide show of economic clout.
A "Day Without Immigrants" Monday meant a day boycotting work and school in favor of rallies and marches with waves of red, white and blue filling streets for miles.
But Jimenez said her group did not plan a boycott or walk-outs from work because it would not have sent the right message.
"We didn't consider it to be a positive action and we wanted a positive proactive action for this," said Jimenez, who is from the Dominican Republic. "It was peaceful and it was kept peaceful, and informative."
The group set up a voter registration table and handed out 400 copies of letters addressed to Alaska U.S. Sens. Ted Stevens and Lisa Murkowski urging the two Republicans to "create a fair law that will preserve the dignity of immigrants," Jimenez said on Tuesday.
Three of her children attended the rally. The fourth, a son, is a Fort Richardson-based soldier fighting in Iraq.
A half-dozen speakers and entertainers spoke at the hour-long event here.
The nationwide boycott and rallies were organized by immigrant activists angered by federal legislation that would criminalize an estimated 11 million illegal immigrants and fortify the U.S-Mexico border.
"The government is trying to treat us like terrorists. We are not. We are just working," said Yair Manzano, as he held an American flag at the Anchorage rally.
People from Mexico and South America may make up the majority of the undocumented workers in the United States, according to government immigration statistics. At least one in every 11 people in Anchorage was born outside the United States, according to census figures, not including those who are undocumented. There are 18,000 Hispanic people living in Anchorage and 30,000 in the state.
In Juneau, about 40 Hispanic and Filipino immigrants and their supporters gathered outside the state Capitol Monday morning to rally for immigrants' rights.
About 180 protesters marched, chanted "Viva immigrants!" and took part in a rally in Kodiak on Monday. "Going out on the street can influence the debate in Congress," said Erique Perez, one of the organizers.
In all, police departments and local officials in more than two dozen U.S. cities contacted by The Associated Press gave crowd estimates that totaled about 1.1 million marchers.
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Information from: Anchorage Daily News, http://www.adn.com
