Russellville rally held
By Staff
Jason Houston Acting Publisher
Waving American and Mexican flags and chanting slogans in Spanish, approximately 500 local Hispanic residents took part in a rally and march Tuesday morning as part of a recent unprecedented wave of demonstrations across the United States by immigrants.
The rallies began with Monday's “National Day of Action,” which drew as many as one million protesters around America campaigning for immigration rights.
In Russellville, in an event organized Monday night, a group of Hispanic residents met at Eastside Park and marched along the sidewalks through downtown Russellville before re-convening at the park. Organizers said the idea for the march came after a group of local residents attended a similar march in Albertville, Ala.
Another organizer of the event, a local Hispanic minister, said the march was designed as a peaceful rally.
Police Chief Chris Hargett said the organizers of the event came to his office Tuesday morning asking for a parade permit.
Participants in the march said a walk-out was staged at Gold Kist Monday night and Tuesday morning. A large number of Gold Kist employees are Hispanic. Gold Kist officials could not be reached for comment Tuesday.
Hargett said the organizers of Tuesday's march informed him they plan to request a parade permit for May 1.
The Associated Press reported Tuesday that immigrants across America are planning the “Great American Boycott” on May 1, urging immigrants to flex their economic muscle. Protesters are being urged to refrain from shopping and stay away from school and work. International Labor Day is observed on May 1.
Nationwide, the historic protests were meant to apply pressure on U.S. lawmakers who are considering election-year reforms in immigration laws.
The proposed legislation runs the gamut from granting millions of undocumented immigrants the chance to become U.S. citizens; to making illegal entry to this country a felony; to booting out illegal immigrants and erecting a fence on the southern U.S. border.
