Obama Town Hall: Some pols, some protesters, anticipation in the air

Our colleague Seema Mehta is on the scene at the Miguel Contreras Learning Complex, where the president is expected to start his town hall appearance at 1 p.m.

She reports that the cavernous gym of the Contreras complex is filling up, as ticket holders file in and take their seats in tidy rows of folding chairs. The president's backdrop will be massive American and California flags.

Los Angeles City Council members Bernard Parks and Eric Garcetti were among the first local officials to arrive. Garcetti, an early supporter of Obama's, pronounced himself "ecstatic" over the president's visit.

"This is a chance for the president to reconnect with his people," said Garcetti. He said the president's swing through Southern California allowed him to talk with real people experiencing the fallout of the economy -- such as the Pomona students who got a visit earlier today.

Garcetti mentioned that one in five people in Los Angeles is unemployed -- and many more than that are underemployed. "The United States will not recover without Los Angeles," he said, "and the president's visit recognizes that."

Parks said he was looking forward to hearing what Obama had to say about small-business assistance. The former L.A. police chief was interested in what Obama would say about community-oriented policing. "I'm looking for him to stay the course,"  Parks said. "What he has done the last several weeks has shown a great deal of leadership."

Earlier in the day, as ticket holders waited patiently in line to gain entry to the gymnasium at Miguel Contreras, two groups protested for legalization of undocumented immigrants.

One, the Coalition for Humane Immigrant Rights of Los Angeles, featured Kevin Prada, 12, who spoke about his life since his father was deported in 2007.

"I am an American citizen, but right now I don't feel like one," he said. "I feel like I am an alien from a different world."

Prada's father immigrated from Peru in the 1990s and was denied political asylum. The young man read from a letter he wrote to Obama: "Please, I write to you, wishing for what you have promised, change."

Vicky Marquez said she had not seen her children, who live in El Salvador, in 13 years. "I haven't hugged them, I haven't kissed them, it's not right," said Marquez, a member of the Service Employees International Union.  "I'm here to tell the president not to forget about us. We're anxiously waiting for immigration reform."

Two groups chanted at two street corners, playing mariachi music and waving signs that said "Obama, count on us," and "Legalizacion! Ahora!"

Nearby residents watched the commotion from their fire escapes, and morning rush-hour commuters honked in support.

Vendors were busy, including one young woman who advertised "presidential concessions" -- water for $1 a bottle.

Meanwhile, yet another group of protesters staked out a street corner near the learning complex. This group, mostly African American, held signs that read "Reparations now" and "Black people need to work too."

-- Robin Abcarian

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Comments

[Richard]

For crying out loud. What part of ILLEGAL IMMIGRANT do you people not understand? If you illegally got here yor SHOULD be deported, not rewarded for not having been caught.
Its bad enough our own congressmen seem to think the Constitution doesn't apply to them, now we have these criminals who think our laws don't applly to them either.

[defolts]

Its amazing that someone could say the United States will not recover with out Los Angeles, how much do you think Los Angeles contributes to the U.S. economy based on its share of population compared to say Minneapolis, Boston or Atlanta? you cannot ask for help so you can go out and buy a Toyota Sequoia or send money out of the country when you are living doubled up or more with other adults so you can save money to send home. when you take more than you give you don’t help the country out and don’t give me the argument you are buying the best cars available, you are buying based on marketing and even when the are defective (think sienna, or many Mitsubishis, Google it.) you don’t much for the nation but they should chip in because you somehow thought that your house would go up by double digit increases every year and when it did not the rest of the country is paying for your selfishness, just remember if you think that you are better than the folks in the rest of the country at some point they will say enough of the software that crashes or other defective so-called tech products and buy anything from Japan just to give you a taste of your own medicine or openly encourage impoverished sub Saharan Africans to improve their lot by moving to Mexico.

[Stan]

Waving the Mexican flag while demanding legalization? Pure brilliance. Why don't they demand that the President of Mexico facilitate jobs and a living wage?

[bill]

The women from El Salvidor needs to GO HOME to see her kids ! Why is the S.E.I.W. full of ILLEGAL ALIENS ???? And once and for all IMMIGRATION REFORM IS NOT AMNESTY in fact it should stop the flow of 20 Million welfare seeking Illegals ! Immigration must be good for the Nation not the theif !!! And 1 in 5 are Illegals , thats why this state is in the toilet !!!