A broad coalition of political activists from the left, right, and center plan to march through Washington, D.C., from Freedom Plaza to Capitol Hill on Monday morning in what is called the “March For Jobs”–a movement opposed to amnesty for illegal immigrants.
The group plans to convene at Freedom Plaza around 9:30 AM and march to the U.S. Capitol. At around 11 AM, a program featuring speakers like Sens. Jeff Sessions (R-AL) and Ted Cruz (R-TX) and Reps. Steve King (R-IA) and Mo Brooks (R-AL), among many other leaders throughout the country from all political perspectives. The Black American Leadership Alliance (BALA) is organizing the rally.
Leah Durant, the founder of BALA and a former U.S. Department of Justice immigration attorney, told Breitbart News the rally is aimed at making sure American jobs go to Americans.
“Our movement centers around making sure that America’s jobs are preserved for those poorest Americans who struggle to find work,” Durant said in an email.
At a time when nearly 22 million Americans are either out of work or underemployed, it is our strong believe that now is no time to engage in polices that would artificially add millions more workers to US labor markets, dramatically increasing competition for scare U.S. jobs. At 13.8%, black unemployment is nearly double that of the national average. Our coalition – the Black American Leadership Alliance reflects the views of everyday middle-class Americans rather than the political elites and big business interests from both the right and left, that have championed large-scale immigration to the US. Our coalition speaks for the common man and woman in America. The Black American Leadership Alliance stands on a storied history of leaders who have seen the value in enacting labor and immigration policies that buttress and support America’s labor interests. People like Coretta Scott King, A. Phillip Randolph, Congresswoman Barbara Jordan, Cesar Chavez, Booker T. Washington, Frederick Douglass, and others, all of whom understood the importance of reducing immigration to tighten labor markets and protect the interests of American labor. We stand together with one voice, white, black, right, left to see to the enactment of immigration and labor policies that promote basic fairness for all workers and justice for America’s poor.
The Rev. Jesse Lee Peterson, the founder and president of the Brotherhood Organization of a New Destiny (BOND), told Breitbart News that the event is important because it gives a voice in the immigration debate to thus far ignored Americans who are out of work.
“Tomorrow is important because we need to save jobs for the American people and take care of home first,” Peterson said. “For the last 23 years under my organization BOND we have been finding jobs for young black men who have dropped out of school and haven’t finished high school. With the influx of illegal aliens coming in, it’s getting more and more difficult now.”
A few thousand demonstrators are expected to show up. Breitbart News will be live-broadcasting the event online.
UPDATE: Breitbart News’ Matt Boyle reports on the ground that well over 1,000 people have begun marching from Freedom Plaza down Pennsylvania Ave to Capitol Hill. IA Rep. Steve King spoke to the crowd before march. He will address the crowd again at the Capitol. Marchers were chanting “Kill the Bill.”