Immigrants' voice: 'We're in the fight'

WASHINGTON -- Hundreds of thousands of immigrants flooded the streets of the nation's capital and scores of other cities yesterday, in an unprecedented nationwide display designed to pressure lawmakers to allow undocumented immigrants to achieve citizenship.

In Washington, more than 100,000 people of various nationalities marched past the White House to the National Mall, and stood between the Capitol and the Washington Monument to lend their voices to the debate.

They wrapped themselves in American flags, waved ''We Are America" signs, and alternated between Spanish and English as they vowed to make themselves known to the nation's elected leaders.

''Today we march. Tomorrow we vote," said Jaime Contreras, president of the National Capital Immigration Coalition, which helped organize the rally.

Contreras led the crowd in a chant. ''Bush escucha: Estamos en la lucha." (Listen Bush: We're in the fight.)

Similar rallies of varying sizes took place in some 150 other cities yesterday -- including Boston -- capping weeks of grass-roots organizing tied to Congress's consideration of the most sweeping overhaul in the nation's immigration laws in two decades.

The explosion of pro-immigrant sentiments has surprised many lawmakers, revealing a depth and breadth of support for immigrants' rights that has already shifted the debate in Congress.

Though the crowd in Washington was predominantly Latino, immigrants' rights groups have turned to a broad cross section of constituencies to help make their case. The rally on Boston Common featured Irish immigrants alongside Russians, Brazilians, Chinese, Somalis, and Ethiopians.

In the San Francisco Bay area, Filipinos and Chinese joined Latinos in a morning march in downtown Oakland and an early afternoon protest at the University of California at Berkeley. Thousands lined the streets of San Francisco's heavily Latino Mission neighborhood, and activists in Chinatown distributed handouts about the immigration bills in Congress.

The public events are coming at a crucial time. When Congress reconvenes in two weeks, lawmakers will be grappling with one of the most contentious and explosive political issues of the day, and their decisions could affect the lives of immigrants -- and the shape of politics -- for decades.

''This debate goes to the heart of who we are as Americans," Senator Edward M. Kennedy, Democrat of Massachusetts, told the crowd in Washington. ''Some in Congress want to turn America away from its true spirit. . . . They say you should report to deport. I say, report to become American citizens."

Late last week, a compromise that would allow most of the nation's 11 million undocumented immigrants to eventually obtain citizenship collapsed in the Senate. That dimmed the prospects of any measure that would provide new legal avenues for undocumented immigrants.

So far, the only immigration bill to pass Congress this term is an enforcement-only measure passed by the House. That bill would make illegal immigration a felony, punish those who help the undocumented, and construct a nearly 700-mile fence along portions of the Mexican border.

President Bush yesterday took note of the massive rally in Washington and used it as an opportunity to renew his push for a comprehensive bill along the lines of the one being discussed in the Senate.

''It's a sign that . . . this is an important issue that people feel strongly about," Bush said. ''People ought to . . . be able to work on a temporary basis, and if they want to become a citizen, after a series of steps they've got to take, they get in line like everybody else."

The rally in Washington brought a smattering of counterprotesters. They bristled at the Spanish-language chants -- proof, they said, that undocumented immigrants do not want to assimilate in American society.

''You cross the border illegally, and you violate our sovereignty," said Jessie Sanders, 19, a sophomore at the University of Maryland. ''It's an invasion -- this whole idea of, 'You've been here for a long time, so you should be a citizen.' "

The rallies appear unlikely to persuade those who are solidly opposed to relaxed immigration laws. Representative Tom Tancredo, the leader of a hard-line coalition of House members, said the rallies would be ''counterproductive" because they highlight the ''mockery" that the nation's immigration laws have become.

''Millions of people are flaunting the fact that they are here illegally and are demanding special treatment. I don't think that flies with John Q. Public," said Tancredo, Republican of Colorado. ''I hope my colleagues don't get scared and run away from a mob in the street."

Those who came to the rallies said they were eager to provide human faces to the debate. Victor Alderete stood on the lawn of the National Mall with his wife, Analia, and two young daughters. His 8-year-old, Angelina, held a sign: ''I am a good student. I love America. I am not a criminal."

''Who cleans the offices? Who picks up the trash? Who picks the crops in the field?" said Alderete, 40, who said he came to the United States from Bolivia illegally five years ago. ''We are not criminals. We love our families. We are here to work."

Edith Umanzor, who moved to Maryland from El Salvador 23 years ago, said she took the day off from her job as a housekeeper to send a message that undocumented immigrants are not going to hide. ''We want everybody to hear us," she said. ''We want some answers, positive ones. We're uniting to see something done."

The protesters want any efforts to tighten the borders to be paired with provisions that would allow those who are now in the country illegally to become citizens. The rallies were meant to warn lawmakers who only want to impose penalties on undocumented immigrants, Contreras said.

''The sleeping giant [of Latino citizens] is awake, and many of us vote," said Contreras, who is also an organizer with a local chapter of the Service Employees International Union.

Still, the standoff in the Senate has so far shown no sign of breaking. Both sides are blaming each other for the lack of movement, and Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist has not committed to bringing an immigration bill back to the floor this year.

Yesterday, a top aide to Frist, a Tennessee Republican, issued a statement blaming Senate Minority Leader Harry Reid for blocking a final bill with his insistence that no changes be made to the measure that's been negotiated.

''As long as Senator Reid stands in the way of senators getting votes, there can't be a fair process, and every day we delay, America is less safe and less secure," said Eric Ueland, Frist's chief of staff.

Democrats fired back by accusing conservative Republicans of blocking the bill -- and blasted Frist and Bush for not pushing them more.

''President Bush and Majority Leader Frist need to look in the mirror and find the courage and backbone to stand up to the radical right and give the American people the real security they deserve," said Jim Manley, a spokesman for Reid.

Bryan Bender of the Globe staff contributed to this report from San Francisco.