Marchers Protest Denial of Late Amnesty to Immigrants
More than 100 demonstrators, many accompanied by their children, marched down Broadway to the Federal Building that houses U.S. immigration offices in downtown Los Angeles to protest a law that could jeopardize their work permits.
Chanting “We want justice!” and “Respect our human rights!” some of the demonstrators wore white headbands emblazoned with the word “Amnesty.”
The activists were marching in support of those who applied for late amnesty in 1987 and ’88. At issue is a law that granted legal residency to immigrants as long as they had not left the country since 1982.
About 450,000 people contend that they were illegally denied residency under the program because they left the United States for brief visits, a spokesman for Late Amnesty Movement in Action said.
Protesters hope that a pending federal lawsuit on behalf of those affected by the law will bring relief.
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