Congressional candidate escorted away from immigration protest

BOISE, Idaho
A congressional candidate and vocal critic of illegal immigration was led away from an immigrant rights protest by more than 5,000 people after an argument developed.

Traffic through the downtown area was snarled Sunday afternoon as protesters, most of them Hispanic, carried U.S. and Mexican flags on a march from Julia Davis Park down Capitol Boulevard to the Statehouse to protest a proposed overhaul of immigration laws

Lucio Prado, a radio host for Idaho Jazz Station's Radio Universidad, said that America has become less tolerant of the kind of immigration that helped build the nation.

"We've had better times in relation to our laws for our immigrants in our country," Lucio Prado told the crowd in Spanish as his remarks were translated into English. "We have lost our nerve to welcome others."

The protest coincided with dozens of other protests nationwide over a House-approved measure that would mandate construction of a fence along the Mexican border, make it illegal to be in the country without proper paperwork and make it a felony to immigrate illegally or aid an illegal immigrant.

The issue has stalled in the Senate amid debate over proposals to allow some illegal immigrants to become citizens.

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Despite expecting a much smaller crowd of 500 to 1,000 demonstrators Sunday, police did not have to deal with any problems, Officer Rick Sargent said.

A counterdemonstration was mounted near the Statehouse by Canyon County Commissioner Robert Vasquez, a Republican congressional candidate who has campaigned largely on opposition to illegal immigration, and four supporters.

Volunteer security personnel for the protesters surrounded the counterdemonstrators and led them away from the rally after some in the demonstration began yelling at Vasquez and his group.

'They were attempting to surround us and intimidate us,' Vasquez said afterward. "I didn't come down here to confront anybody. I just came down here ... to demand immigration laws be enforced and to send a message to (Sens.) Larry Craig and Mike Crapo that this is what they're supporting."