Caleb Ferganchick
News Reporter

The streets were alive with the sound of change Saturday as hundreds of Grand Junction citizens came out to march in support of immigration reform. Organized by the Hispanic Affairs Project and the Colorado Immigrant Rights Coalition, the march was intended to raise community awareness for the concerns and complications immigrants face in the United States.

Nicole Ruiz, director of the Hispanic Affairs Project, explained that the two principle areas of concern for immigrants are a reasonable path to citizenship as well as further investment in the education of dream children, youth under the age of sixteen brought to the United States illegally.

“I know as a teacher, one of my main focuses is my students,” CMU graduate and Grand Junction teacher Yaneth Gutierrez said. “There’s a lot of my students that can’t afford to go to college, but wouldn’t it be great for them to not have to live in the shadows and for them to be able to partake in a job they studied for?”

Immigration law has always been a turbulent and heated policy issue for the United States. In the past 50 years, it has become increasingly complicated for families to fully integrate into society. Especially since the USA Patriot Act of 2001, it has been difficult for immigrants to overcome stereotypes imposed by political rhetoric.

“It’s a big issue to talk about,” community member Nelly Garcia said. “Not everyone is going to agree, but I think we can get there.”

On a national level, the Obama Administration deported an estimated 400,000 illegal immigrants during the last fiscal year. While many legal Americans don’t consider such numbers a personal concern, the American Civil Liberties Union has been involved in numerous cases over the past decade involving U.S. citizens who have been accidently deported based off of presumed racial profiling.

“It affects everyone in this country,” Gutierrez said. “We’re all affected by every law that passes.”

Earlier last week, Colorado’s Congress took a huge step forward by passing a bill that calls for increased attention to immigrant rights by policy makers. The bill is expected to gain wide bi-partisan support over the coming weeks.

“There are a lot of challenges in terms of public opinion,” Gutierrez said, “I think younger generations are more open-minded and understand the richness of diversity.”

CMU’s own Latino Student Alliance members turned out for the event, excited and hopeful that the march would create positive change.

“We want to make justice for those who come here to work hard and get things done,” Vice-President of Latino Student Alliance Elisa Murillo said. “People come here for an opportunity. Maybe we can use some of their knowledge, experience and techniques to make our country better.”

After the march, supporters gathered at Sherwood Park for the reading of letters from Colorado Senator Michael Bennet and Congressman Scott Tipton, who both expressed their support of reform.

cferganc@mavs.coloradomesa.edu