"Rallying around the cry "Sí se puede!" -- Spanish for "Yes, we can!" -- more than 100 people gathered in Monroe Park yesterday to protest anti-immigrant legislation in the General Assembly.

Many of them then marched to the state Capitol, carrying handmade banners with messages that included "Stop raids -- immigration reform now" and "Hate is ignorance."

James River High School student Carlos Ojeda, 15, and his sister, Karen, 14, were among a dozen speakers at the two-hour rally organized by the Virginia Immigrant Peoples Coalition. Either assisted by a translator or on their own, the speakers addressed the crowd in English and Spanish.

Carlos Ojeda expressed his thoughts on behalf of children of immigrants, on whom he said the government is imposing "limits on what you can do and where you can go."

"When the government tells them, 'You're not allowed to go to college because you're illegal,' it really crushes them, especially those who hope to find a better future, be more than their parents can be and accomplish the American dream," he said.

Ricardo Juarez, coordinator of Mexicans Without Borders, was joined by 30 immigrants who traveled by bus from Northern Virginia. They have been fighting to overturn a resolution in Prince William County to crack down on illegal immigrants.

"We're here today united against the racism of proposed bills and legislation before the General Assembly," Juarez said. "They are trying to legalize oppression. . . . We're here because we want to take our voices to the streets."

Barry Carter, chairman of the Fort Christanna Saponi-Occoneechee Indians, drew parallels between persecution of American Indians and immigrants.

"The so-called Hispanics, Latinos, Chicanos, immigrants and illegal immigrants are in fact Native Americans like ourselves. We are native to this land, America. We are indigenous people," Carter said. "We did not cross the border, the border crossed us on our land -- dividing families, tribes and nations."

Cristina M. Rebeil, a lobbyist for the coalition, urged supporters to meet tomorrow at 8 a.m. at St. Peter Catholic Church at North Eighth and East Grace streets in Richmond for a day of lobbying at the General Assembly.

"We want them to see that when they say 'illegals' they're talking about a human being who they can hurt," Rebeil said. "No human being is illegal. It hurts when they talk about us like we're not human."

A group of half a dozen illegal-immigration opponents from Northern Virginia watched the rally from a distance and took pictures of participants. They also spoke with several of the dozens of homeless people who were in the park.

"Illegals are calling for rights when we have a bunch of homeless Americans in this park, disabled American veterans who aren't getting any help. That's shameful," said Maureen Wood of Manassas.

In October, the Board of Supervisors in nearby Prince William County adopted a resolution that will deny certain county services to illegal immigrants and requires its police department to check the immigration status of those accused of a crime.

At yesterday's rally, Donald Anthony Moses said he is a disabled veteran who has been homeless since August.

"People here who are illegal are causing problems. Don't take my job away from me. Don't deny me something that I have a right to. I served this country and I'm homeless," Moses said. "Drop the signs and look at the people who are around here. There's more people at this park who are homeless than there are at this rally."

Before the rally, Jeff Winder, coordinator for The People United, said more than 100 bills dealing with immigration have been introduced at the General Assembly this year.

They include bills that would prevent undocumented immigrants from attending state colleges and extend federal immigration functions to state and local law-enforcement officers. Bill addressing each have been passed by the House of Delegates and are in Senate committees.

"The vast majority of those are very harmful and negative and would have detrimental impacts on us all. They lead toward racial profiling; toward very expensive and costly identity-check processes that will impact all of our lives; and they help create a climate of fear, hatred and division," Winder said.

"We are trying to come together and just promote the message to show people that the immigrant population is a very important part of our community. They are ordinary people who are working hard to support their families like everybody else and that the people of Virginia don't support the politics of hate and fear."" (Steven Pearlstein, The Washington Post, February 8, 2008)