Immigrant rallies lose steam

NY Times:

Thousands of immigrants and their supporters marched in several cities on Thursday to demand civil rights at a time when crackdowns against illegal immigrants are rising.

The May Day demonstrations were significantly smaller than in previous years, and gone were calls for a nationwide boycott of businesses and work, as protest leaders had urged last year. The Spanish-language D.J.’s who had heavily promoted previous marches stuck largely to their regular programming. And disagreements among advocates over the best approach to winning legal status for illegal immigrants had diminished organizing firepower, with many groups turning their attention to voter registration and citizenship drives.

In many cities, including New York, Chicago, Houston and Los Angeles, crowds were a small fraction of those in previous years, with few people outside protest areas even aware that marches were under way.

...

No kidding.

The crowd in Houston was estimated to be about 200 and that probably included the people protesting the protesters. I think the earlier large rallies were a reaction to legislation to control immigration and in support of the failed comprehensive reform. Since then enforcement has ticked up and it is possible that those here illegally who have not already self deported are fearful of making a spectacle of themselves.