Immigration protesters converge in front of House Speaker Hastert's office

September 4, 2006 (WLS) -- Hundreds gathered in the western suburbs Monday demanding immigration reform. The rally is the end of a long road for many of the protesters. Their trek started Friday in Chicago's Chinatown community and ended in Batavia outside of House Speaker Dennis Hastert's office.

The marchers finished their march. The protesters came to protest. It was a peaceful encounter, no arrests, no real problems. But there are, as we all know, widely divergent and highly volatile opinions on this issue, all of which played out Monday on the streets of Batavia. .

They completed their march to Batavia in the early afternoon. Four days, 40 miles-plus from Chicago, ending in front of Dennis Hastert's office, with a heavy complement of police separating marchers and 150 counter-protesters.

Hastert's office was closed on this Labor Day. Everyone knew it would be. But the 150 or so marchers chose this stage to make a statement.

"We marched here to shine a spotlight on the actions of Speaker Hastert and his cronies in Congress who seem to take people's lives as a political football," said Gabe Gonzalez, march organizer.

"This is our home. This is our land, too," said Jose Arreola, march organizer.

The house speaker, meanwhile, was in a Labor Day parade about 50 miles west in the small town of Paw Paw. He is critical of Illinois Senator Dick Durbin's bill that would allow many here illegally to remain in the United States.

"That bill is a giveaway," Hastert said. "It's a bad bill. We're not going to pass it in the US House. We're going to pass the bill that protects the borders and protects American citizens."

Many in the group of counter-protesters Monday talked of zero tolerance for illegals.

"We need to take care of our soil before we take everybody else and everybody else's children," said Bernadette Fish, Hoffman Estates.

"Certainly, if they are legal, they're welcome. If they are illegal they should go through the process of becoming legal immigrants," said Bill Hayner, Montgomery, Illinois.

But marchers say the system is broke. They believe in the political might of their numbers.

"Today, we are marching on Batavia, but in November, we will be marching on the ballot box," said Eliseo Medina, Service Employees International Union.

A spokesman for Hastert says the speaker appreciates the right of the marchers to rally in front of his office, but he was not part of the set-up. It was never part of his intention to meet with any marchers, and he laments the fact is there too much yelling and not enough listening.

Congress will deal with this again when they return from Washington from the Labor Day recess. How far they get in the process remains to be seen.

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