Cries of “Si, se puede!,” meaning “Yes, we can!” in Spanish, and “The people united shall never be divided!” drew attention Monday, when about 300 protesters marched on campus.

The protest, a microcosmic version of rallies in Chicago and around the nation, seemed to draw a positive response from bystanders outside buildings and walking to class. Marchers came from a mixed background, with parents, children, students, faculty and local workers, both native and foreign-born.

Leo Ribas, a Sycamore resident, marched with hands clasped around both Mexican and American flags.

“The two flags, they are the same thing to me,” he said.

The march was followed by a crowded rally in the King Memorial Commons, sponsored by the Organization of Latin American Students. The rally featured speakers from the Illinois Coalition for Immigrant and Refugee Rights and NIU visiting assistant history professor Paul Street.

The historical perspective

“I may not be Latino myself, but I am the great-grandchild of immigrants,” Street said. Street went on to deliver his assessment of the history of economic relations between the U.S. and Latin America, and called for an end to “stateless people.”

Street claimed the double standards in America’s foreign relations with Latin American immigrants did not apply to his ancestors, accusing the North American Free Trade Agreement and modern American business of “rolling back democracy.”

Street also discussed the history behind May 1 as International Workers Day, or May Day, and said Monday’s protest follows tradition.

Frank Blazquez, a second-generation immigrant, spoke about history as well.

“We are native to this soil,” Blazquez said. Blazquez also said that even though his ancestors lived in America before the European colonization, it is unrealistic to demand the land back, and that all the people in America should aim to live in harmony.

A push for reform

The goal of the march was to show Congress that college students would like to see the Dream Act in effect, said junior management major Cynthia Gamboa.

“It affects students who have already been here five, ten, twenty years,” Gamboa said.

The law would allow people already within the United States the ability to get a degree from a four-year university or higher education institution, and would provide a path to citizenship afterward, Gamboa said.

“This law would allow them to contribute to their community,” Gamboa said. “They become better people by getting educated.”

Kristin Kumpf, suburban organizer for ICIRR, also spoke about House Speaker Dennis Hastert’s role in recent legislation.

“He works for us; our interests are what he should be representing,” Kumpf said.

Kumpf began her day before dawn, helping in Chicago and appearing at rallies in Elgin and Aurora before coming to DeKalb; she will lead a march for immigration reform at Rep. Dennis Hastert’s office in Batavia on Saturday, May 13 at 1 p.m., and expects to see a large turnout.