Try living one day without an immigrant.
That's the message organizers of the National Day of Action on Immigrant Rights are trying to send, and Penn students are rallying to the cause.
The Latino and Asian Pacific Student coalitions -- two umbrella groups at Penn -- are joining forces today to protest an immigration bill that recently passed the U.S. House of Representatives.
The rally -- sponsored by El Paro, a Philadelphia-based organization dedicated to securing rights for immigrants -- will take place today from noon until 2 p.m. in LOVE Park at 16th Street and John F. Kennedy Boulevard.
But Penn students are starting a bit earlier.
At 11 a.m., a feeder rally organized by the student groups will begin at 40th and Locust streets and proceed down Locust Walk, through Drexel University's campus and into Center City.
Students are protesting the Sensenbrenner-King Bill, which is currently being debated in the U.S. Senate. The bill would make it a felony to be an illegal immigrant.
"It's like classifying them as child molesters," Latino Coalition Chairman and College sophomore Rob Medina said. "The repercussions of this bill affect a lot more people than just immigrants."
Medina and the demonstration's organizers are worried about a provision of the bill that would permit the government to prosecute anyone who gives assistance to an illegal immigrant. Those who lend services to illegal immigrants -- like medical or legal help -- would be considered abetting a criminal.
The Latino Coalition sent a group to Trenton, N.J., last week to show its support for the Dream Act, another immigration bill still being debated in Congress.
The act would would permit immigrants who came to the U.S. as minors -- and who graduated from high school and have lived here for at least five years -- to pursue a college education.
Yet organizers say tomorrow's rally isn't about fighting against a single bill. Rather, the rally is one more way to show support for responsible immigration reform.
Students are also writing letters to Pennsylvania Republican senators Rick Santorum and Arlen Specter to further the groups' agenda, Latino Coalition Political Chairwoman and College sophomore Priscilla Matos said.
Both Specter and Santorum have voiced their support for the Dream Act.
"We are working really hard this semester and next to push this bill through," Matos said. "This bill affects not just immigrant themselves, but their kids."
Medina added that the next move for the Latino Coalition will be fighting to win University President Amy Gutmann's support for the bill.
The student coalitions found a natural bond in working for immigrant rights, Asian Pacific Student Coalition Vice Chairman of Political Affairs and Engineering sophomore Jason Phan said.
"Immigration issues are not specific to any cultural group," Phan said. "The issues transcend different races. Basically, we just want to advocate human rights."
