On March 25th, over 2,500 latino immigrants joined Gold Star Families for Peace member Fernando Suarez del Solar, and Iraq War resister Pablo Paredes for the 5 mile Watsonville leg of their 241 mile march for peace from Tijuana to the Mission District in San Francisco. Along with chants for peace, many on the march were also moved to take a stand against the draconian anti-immigrant bill HR4437.

photos: 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8
audio: Short Interviews

After the march, the Watsonville Police Department targeted one organizer (a Brown Beret) and wrote him a citation with 8-10 counts against him, including criminal charges. Read more

Shortly after the march in Watsonville, a thousand latino immigrants joined Fernando Suarez del Solar and Pablo Paredes for the 5 mile Salinas leg of their 241 mile trek. People took to the streets in opposition to war in Iraq and the anti-immigrant bill HR4437. Read more and view photos

Organizers say, "Latinos represent nearly 15% of the US population and 11% of the US military, with many serving in combat or hazardous duty occupations. In addition, an estimated 20% of the fallen service members in the early months of the invasion were Latino. With the continued growth of the Latino population and its vital importance to the future of this country, it is time the Latino community become an active and vocal part of the 60%+ of US citizens that oppose this War."

Read more about the march for peace from Tijuana to San Francisco on Indybay's Immigrant Rights and Anti-War Pages