Students to join immigration protest in D.C.

Senior Sebastian Johnson, Student Member of the Board of Education, is helping to organize students in Montgomery and neighboring counties to participate in the "National Day of Action and Mass Rally" on April 10, at the Washington Monument.

The event is being organized nationally by the National Capital Immigration Coalition (NCIC) and locally by CASA de Maryland, an organization that provides services to D.C. Metropolitan Area immigrants. Protests will be held simultaneously in major cities across the country, including New York, Miami, Milwaukee, Los Angeles, Phoenix and San Antonio.

Gustavo Torres, Executive Director of CASA de Maryland, contacted Johnson on March 29 about publicizing the event among Montgomery County students, according to Johnson, who agreed to advertise the event. Since then, Johnson has contacted several other student-run organizations. "I called county student government, the student representatives of Montgomery County Democratic Central Committee, SGA presidents and Hispanic clubs at different schools and I've been talking to classes at Blair," said Johnson. Additionally, he has contacted organizations and SGAs in Arlington, Prince George's County and D.C.

Many organizations have taken action nationwide since Congress announced Bill H.R. 4437. "The bill makes it a felony to be an illegal immigrant and they could face possible jail time and it also makes it a crime to assist illegals, meaning people who serve the immigrant community could face fines or possible jail times, so that's teachers and social workers."

Johnson and Torres are working towards getting 2000 students to turn out for the protest, and the protest itself expects hundreds of thousands of participants. Johnson believes that turn out will be good because this is an issue that has "generated a lot of tension."