On April 2, almost 1,000 Chinese immigrants joined the demonstration in New York City, pushing for a comprehensive immigration reform bill that would legalize undocumented immigrants. The participation of Chinese immigrants was considered to be a major turnout after Chinese leaders spent many days of organizing and encouraging members of their community. Many business owners even closed their stores on a profitable weekend to come to the demonstration.

According to the Chinese demonstrators, mostly Cantonese, Fujinese and those from Zhejian-Shanghai, all they want is “the right to live and work in the United States.” They were in the streets, asking “for the opportunity to return a miracle to this country.”

Even legal Chinese immigrants joined the rally last Saturday to give support to their friends and relatives who are still hoping to legalize their U.S. status. They congregated in Chatham Square, in Chinatown, before joining the march, which was organized by the International Immigrants Foundation.

“It is very difficult to survive in the United States without status. They have my deepest sympathy,” said Shouying Yu, who is originally from Wenjou, China.

Yu brought her three sons, between 10 and 13 years old, to the demonstration. They held flags and showed slogans.

“I was smuggled into the country when I was 27. I waited for 11 years to finally get a green card, and I’m still not a citizen,” she said, adding that she came to the rally for her children. “I want give them the opportunity to live in the United States. I endured all kinds of hardships. When I started to work in a garment factory, I knew nothing about making clothes, but I worked hard even though I got paid for only $20 a day.”

Yu now owns a gift shop on Canal Street and is finally enjoying some economic stability. Although she holds a green card, she said: “I feel injustice for those who don’t have status. That’s why I closed the shop and came to the march.”

She added that many Chinese immigrants “work very hard and pay taxes, and that they deserve a chance to survive in the United States.”

Jiewen Ren, who came from Shanghai, is known as the “Den Xiaoping of Shanghai” as he bears a likeness to the late Chinese leader. At 76, he energetically marched with thousands of immigrants across the Brooklyn Bridge to Manhattan.

Although he came to the United States legally, Ren admitted that his elders came without proper documents. “We should be grateful for their sacrifice,” he said.

Ren said his first job in the United States was delivering take-outs. He did it for many years to provide for his children. He is now an accountant and has his own office.

“America is a country built by immigrants. It needs immigrants to stabilize its economy and it needs to have a good immigration policy,” he said.

Jitan Li, who is from Taiyun, Shanxi Province, came to the United States five years ago. Immigrants, she said, are the cheap laborers in this country, and that they are the reason that U.S. citizens have a very affordable consumer market.

“If they can’t even have the right to live and work, what kind of human rights is that?” asked Li.