The
Mexican-American and Spanish speaking communities rallied in Norristown Monday
evening for immigration reform. They demanded that Congress pass the immigration
legislation that is now stalled and overshadowed by the Syrian crisis.  They also gathered signatures on a
petition calling on the Norristown police  force not to assist in raids by federal immigration
authorities. 

Amidst
chants of "Si, se puede" ("Yes we can") speakers discussed how
400 local families have been torn apart by deportation. And parents, joined by their young
children testified about how their arrests and the threat of deportation were
causing their families severe emotional and economic stress. A Norristown
public high school student described her constant fear that her parents might
step out to the grocery store and she might never see them again were they to
be arrested and deported.

Under
the proposed “Dream Act,” undocumented youth who complete college or do two
years of military service could earn their way to citizenship over the course
of six years.

Calling
for human rights and dignity for all, rally participants lit candles as dusk
fell,  then circled and sang out
loudly in Spanish and English, the civil rights anthem, "We shall
overcome."