Los Tigres del Norte and Olga Tañón will perform a free concert on the National Mall in Washington, D.C. on Oct. 8 as part of a weekend of nationwide rallies and marches intended to pressure lawmakers to act on a comprehensive immigration reform. The "Camino Americano: Concert and March for Immigrant Dignity and Respect" is part of a massive series of rallies organized by immigrant advocates in support of comprehensive reform with a path to citizenship for the undocumented. Organizers say they expect protestors to gather in anywhere from 60 to 100 cities across the nation beginning on Oct. 5 -- when Congress is closed for the weekend -- through the 8th, when it is back in session.
Félix Sánchez, director of the National Hispanic Foundation for the Arts, which helped arrange for the two musical acts to play, told El Universal he and other organizers were hoping to get more groups on board soon. He added that Tañón was scheduled to perform a handful of songs just after noon on Oct. 8 before the Puerto Rican songstress would cede the stage to Los Tigres, who will perform for two hours. "The songs of Los Tigres have been the voice of the pro-reform movement because their lyrics are very powerful," he said.
Members of the norteño band said in a statement, "This is a crucial time in the continued fight for immigrant rights, and we are looking forward to raising our voices alongside the thousands of our community that will come from across the nation." Gustavo Torres, president of CASA in Action, a Latino immigrant political organizing group, said a coalition of some 20 organizations will put up the $700,000 necessary to coordinate the concert and the march. That same day, some 200 religious leaders of various faiths will arrive on the National Mall, according to Jose Eugenio Hoyos, a Catholic priest in an Arlington, Virginia archdiocese.
Faith, labor and civil rights groups are expected to turn out for the Oct. 5 commencement of the rallies. Organizers are deeming that day the "National Day for Dignity and Respect", and say they'll be calling for "immigration reform that ends deportations and wasteful spending on border militarization and push forward for a path to citizenship for 11 million aspiring citizens that keeps families together and protects workers' rights", according to a press statement from a coalition of groups. The Senate passed in June a comprehensive bill which would grant a path to citizenship to about 8 million undocumented immigrants in addition to pouring some $46 billion toward fortifying the US-Mexico border with agents, fencing and surveillance technology. The Republican majority in the House has refused to consider it, saying they would proceed with their own small, single-action bills instead.
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