BROOKLYN HEIGHTS — Thousands of New Yorkers participated in a national day of action in support of immigration reform with a rally at Cadman Plaza and a march over the Brooklyn Bridge.
The event was among 170 rallies held nationwide Saturday to urge the U.S. House of Representatives to commit to "comprehensive immigration reform," according to the organizers, New Yorkers for Real Immigration Reform.
“The numbers are on our side: the thousands upon thousands across the country who are standing up today to say ‘The time is now!’” said Steven Choi, executive director of the New York Immigration Coalition. “Either the House leadership stops with its posturing and theatrics, or they’ll be blown aside by the gale force of 15 million immigrant voters — not to mention native-born voters, too — in 2014.”
Rep. José E. Serrano, who was joined by other elected officials, said the government's deep-freeze was just diverting attention from the issue.
“While the reckless shutdown of the government has distracted Washington, real families continue to be separated and hurt by our broken immigration system,” he said.
The protesters convened shortly after 2 p.m. at Cadman Plaza and listened to speeches by many elected officials, including Reps. Nydia Velazquez, Grace Meng, Yvette Clarke, Jerrold Nadler and Hakeem Jeffries.
Twitter was filled with posts about the rallies using the hashtags #timeisnow, #oct5NYC and #oct5, and posters shared messages and photos from around the country of the rallies.
