Worth dying for? US immigration rallies to be hit by swine flu
May 01 2009 by Ranjan Chakraborty
US May Day rallies in support of US immigration reform could be at risk this year after advice from public health officials warned against public gatherings of people linked with an institution or location with a high concentration of cases.
The events attracted thousands of supporters in recent years, largely from America’s Latino population many of which hail form Mexico, the epicentre of the Swine Flu epidemic.
Clarissa Martinez, the director of the National Council of La Raza and one of the event organisers, says, “we're monitoring the situation to make sure that anything that is going to be conducive to the health and safety of communities is observed."
The annual marches are expected to be important this year as President Obama considers his stance on US immigration policy reform, which could provide a route to US citizenship for millions of unregistered immigrants.
There is also a lot of hope among campaigners that they could see some real changes this year. Angela Kelley from the Center for American Progress, says, "I think we're in a different position now in April 2009 than in April 2007…I think it's become more diverse and mainstream, sort of at the same time."
Union workers have been preparing for the weekend’s marches for months. As a result of these efforts, campaigners are likely to go ahead - despite the health warnings - in order to spread their message, although many people may be discouraged from attending.
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