‘Keep out, help wanted’

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Cardinal Roger Mahony spoke to the crowd of marchers in Spanish. ‘This year we really have three months. This congress has only three months to pass a meaningful comprehensive bill by the August recess,’ said Mahony later, summing up his main points to the crowd. ‘If they don’t, they’ll come back from recess with one focus--November 2008. And this will be off the radar.

‘We have this paradox that Congress has to overcome. We have a fence along the border and we have two signs--one says ‘Keep out.’ The other says ‘Help wanted.’ ‘

Asked about the difference between this year’s turnout and last year’s, Mahony said, ‘We’re in a whole different mode. Last year was more of a protest against the very punitive measure that passed in the House of Representatives. It was a reaction against the criminalization of people. This year we are more about getting meaningful legislation that deals with all the issues at once, not just one at a time.’

-Jill Leovy