As mainstream media is reporting a much lower turnout for this year’s immigration rallies across the country, I can personally report that this was the case in San Francisco.

While the rally was lively and and attendees very enthusiastic yesterday, San Francisco’s Civic Center square was less than 1/4 full, a sharp contrast from last year, when the crowds stretched from the steps of City Hall and the federal building spilling into the neighboring streets of the Tenderloin.

Yesterday morning Gustavo Arellano was on NPR talking about whether the lower number of attendees (because this was being predicted hours before the rallies actually started) had to more to do with the fact that the rallies last year were so successful that people simply think that the struggle is over.

I’m not sure if he means the struggle actually is over or if we just think it is, but in my opinion it is most definitely not. The raids haven’t stopped nor has the hate stirred up by paranoia-inducing groups like the Minutemen. There’s still a lot to fight for, and if thinking that we’re done is the reason why less of us came together this year, we’re missing something.

A quick glance at the headlines in the Immigration category of this blog will tell you that hate, blame and xenophobia is alive in America, and the struggle for “un trato digno” for immigrants is far from over.

Nonetheless, a few people (the San Francisco Chronicle says hundreds, both in San Francisco and Oakland, respectively) got together in San Francisco to protest the current administration and its treatment of immigrants.

Local African-American leaders, Filipino-American youths, the Longshoreman’s union, and MECHA each had their moment on the stage to ignite the crowd with personal stories, statements of solidarity and chants of “¡Sí se puede!” It was clear that many attendees pulled their children out of school for the rally, as there were a ton of kids running around everywhere.

The speeches centered around calling for an end to the raids, with a few people giving their own accounts of being the target of a raid and the treatment they received by ICE agents.

Images describe the event better than words, so have a look at our group on Flickr for a full photographic account. We’ve uploaded about 100 images from the event, and please feel free to add yours so we can see what the rallies looked like in your part of the country.