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Almendra Carpizo Record Staff Writer @AlmendraCarpizo

STOCKTON Martha Serbin stood in front of dozens of people on Monday to deliver a speech that several weeks ago wouldnt have happened.

The 35-year-old had been feeling desperate and plagued by fear following the election of President Donald Trump. Serbin was scared to be in public because she is undocumented and had been hearing all the news of immigration raids and stricter enforcement of immigration laws.

I would ask God, Please let me return home so my kids can find me, she said.

By Monday, there was no indication Serbin was scared. Instead, the mother of four delivered an impassioned speech that drew loud cheers from May Day demonstrators gathered for a rally at the Weber Point Events Center.

We all have a reason why were here, she said, her voice booming. You know what that is? Necessity we came here to work. We came to do the jobs Americans didnt want to do.

Serbin was among the dozens of people in Stockton who missed work, skipped school or shut their businesses for the day to participate in the national May Day March to advocate for comprehensive immigration reform and to challenge President Donald Trumps immigration policies. Across the country, thousands of people filled the streets as they gathered for protests and rallies.

On Monday, demonstrators arrived at Dean De Carli Plaza about 9 a.m. They held signs and flags while chanting Un pueblo callado jams ser escuchado (A quiet town will never be heard) and ICE, escucha, estamos en la lucha. (ICE, listen, were in the fight). The cheering and chants from the group often were reciprocated with honks from passing motorists as the marchers walked from the plaza to the Stockton Police Department headquarters then up to West Poplar Street before heading south on Center Street and returning to the downtown waterfront plaza.

Luis Magaa, who is on the committee that helped coordinate the May Day March, said the demonstration was about unity and the importance of people letting their voices be heard to demand justice and dignity. The Trump Administration threatens to break up families and his rhetoric has led to an increase in racial divide and hate crimes, he said.

Were asking for everyone to unite and to lift their voice into one, Magaa said.

Serbin, who has been working with an attorney to fix her status, said this is the first time she has participated in a march but felt compelled to do it because there are immigrants who are living in fear and children who are crying because their parents were deported. People risked their lives to find peace in this country, she said, but they are living in a prison inside their own homes because of fear.

We left everything in one country to come and build a country thats not ours, said Serbin, who works at a packing plant. We could have stayed (in our home countries), but the crime and economy dont allow us to have a good life there.

The event was peaceful, and those marching remained on sidewalks and used crosswalks. One demonstrator and a woman were in a brief altercation during the march when the woman walked through the group yelling, Go back to Mexico and, You have no rights here.

At 11:30 a.m., a second march organized by Fathers and Families of San Joaquin and the Coalition of Mexican American Organizations began at Gleason Park off California Street. The group chanted while walking to Dean De Carli Plaza, where all demonstrators converged and headed to Weber Point Events Center for the rally. Stockton councilman Jesus Andrade, The Owl Movement founder Tashante McCoy Ham and San Joaquin County Pride Center Director Nicholas Hatten were guest speakers during the event.

Seidy Gastelum, president of COMA, said Friday having the different groups come together is symbolic of unifying as a community.

We all come from different places, she said. But we will rally and stand up together for the community under attack.

Having once marched with labor leader and civil rights activist Cesar Chavez, 65-year-old Maricela Martinez knows the importance of coming together, she said.

Martinez, who once was undocumented but now is a U.S. citizen, said she wants to support immigrants because she was once where many people find themselves now and is calling for President Trump to create a path to citizenship.

Not all (immigrants) are criminals, she said. We came from a young age to work in fields, factories, and the canneries."

Hilda Vielma, 40, said she left her home in Jalisco, Mexico, looking for a safer community for her family. Shes now going through the process to earn permanent residency but said many immigrants dont have the means or ability to do it.

Were all looking for the opportunity to be legal in this country, she said. We came to fight and to find a better life for our families.

Were looking to be free in this country.

Contact reporter Almendra Carpizo at (209) 546-8264 or acarpizo@recordnet.com. Follow her on Twitter @AlmendraCarpizo.

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May Day rallies converge to send one message: Immigration reform - Stockton Record