Is movement fizzling?

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Is the immigrant march movement becoming fragmented?

Agustin Martinez, 33, seems to think so. He attributed the lower turnout at the downtown march this year to protesters having more options to choose from, and he rattled off three to four smaller cities hosting their own immigrant rallies.

He also blamed Spanish language radio for not promoting the downtown rally like they did last year.

Police have estimated about 500 protesters are marching toward City Hall, a far cry from the 650,000 who took to the streets last year on May 1.

But Martinez, who works at a bakery in Vernon and immigrated from Michoacan, Mexcio, isn’t discouraged. On the contrary, he and his friend Miguel Lopez, 43, who works at the same bakery, plan to attend as many rallies as they are able. ‘We’re going to keep coming to every one we can,’ Martinez said, ‘until I can say that I am an American.’

-Francisco Vara-Orta on Broadway