El Paso wants Obama’s attention

About 100 people gathered at Airway Boulevard and Montana Avenue this morning during President Barack Obama's visit to Fort Bliss in a peaceful protest asking President Barack Obama for comprehensive immigration reform.

"We have more guns on the border and officers that don't care about border communities, we want a more human border policy," said Louie Gilot, policy director of the Border Network for Human Rights. "We want to tell him (Obama) that it's not too late to get it done."

Beginning at 11 a.m., adults, children and members of BNHR, an immigration advocacy organization, shouted chants like "yes, we can." People, who passed by in their cars and trucks, also showed their support.

Gilot said that although they knew they would not be able to get close to the president, they picked that spot because it was on the way to the airport.

"Many people can't be here now, we are here to represent what are the concerns of people from the border," said Maria Rodriguez, resident of Central El Paso.

For more than an hour, people at the protest held American flags and signs with messages such as "More guns, more deaths" and "Obama = Bush, what's the difference."

"People are frustrated, they supported the president at the elections and now they are not seeing realities," said Fernando García, executive director of BNHR.

Salvador Carrillo, a Vietnam veteran who served in the Navy, was holding a sign with a message against immigration reform. He said he was also there to get a message to the president.

"He never came to see the people in America, we are the people and we have a voice," Carrillo said. "We have different requests for him, it's not just about immigration."

Nicole Chávez may be reached at prospector@utep.edu.