The Conservative Protest on Capitol Hill That the Media Isn't Talking About

Hundreds of people from across the country, thousands by some estimates, descended on Capitol Hill Monday for the "March For Jobs," an event organized by the Black American Leadership Alliance (BALA) to oppose amnesty and the Senate "Gang of Eight" immigration bill.

While you have surely heard about the pro-Trayvon Martin protests occurring across the country, the "March For Jobs" demonstration was barely covered at all, other than in conservative media.

Activists gathered early in the morning at Freedom Plaza and then marched to Capitol Hill to rally against the current immigration reform efforts.

Among the speakers were Rep. Steve King (R-Iowa), Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Texas), Allen West and even a "pissed-off dad" whose son was murdered by an illegal immigrant gang member from Mexico in 2008, the Daily Caller reports.

WASHINGTON, DC - JULY 15: A crowd marches along Pennsylvania Avenue during the DC March for Jobs on July 15, 2013 in Washington, DC.  Credit: Getty Images

WASHINGTON, DC - JULY 15: A crowd marches along Pennsylvania Avenue during the DC March for Jobs on July 15, 2013 in Washington, DC. Credit: Getty Images

WASHINGTON, DC - JULY 15: A crowd marches along Pennsylvania Avenue during the DC March for Jobs on July 15, 2013 in Washington, DC. Credit: Getty Images

WASHINGTON, DC - JULY 15: The crowd sings the National Anthem during the DC March for Jobs in Upper Senate Park near Capitol Hill, on July 15, 2013 in Washington, DC. Credit: Getty Images

WASHINGTON, DC - JULY 15: A crowd marches along Pennsylvania Avenue during the DC March for Jobs on July 15, 2013 in Washington, DC. Credit: Getty Images

WASHINGTON, DC - JULY 15: A button on a shirt is seen during the DC March for Jobs in Upper Senate Park near Capitol Hill, on July 15, 2013 in Washington, DC. Credit: Getty Images

WASHINGTON, DC - JULY 15: Sen. Ted Cruz (R-TX) speaks about immigration during the DC March for Jobs in Upper Senate Park near Capitol Hill, on July 15, 2013 in Washington, DC. Credit: Getty Images

WASHINGTON, DC - JULY 15: Rep. Steve King (R-IA) speaks during the DC March for Jobs in Upper Senate Park near Capitol Hill, on July 15, 2013 in Washington, DC. Credit: Getty Images

WASHINGTON, DC - JULY 15: A crowd arrives at Upper Senate Park near Capitol Hill during the DC March for Jobs on July 15, 2013 in Washington, DC. Credit: Getty Images

WASHINGTON, DC - JULY 15: Members of the Rainy Day Patriots, a Tea Party group from Alabama, display a message during the DC March for Jobs in Upper Senate Park near Capitol Hill, on July 15, 2013 in Washington, DC. Credit: Getty Images

Cruz told the crowd that "Obamacare" would encourage employers to hire illegal immigrants granted legal status because they are not eligible under the health care law and employers would be exempt from the $5,000 penalty that would be charged for American workers.

“One of the most egregious aspects of the gang of eight bill is its intersection with Obamacare, which penalizes businesses that hire a U.S. citizen or a legal permanent resident over an illegal immigrant,” Cruz said, according to TheDC. “This is utterly and completely indefensible. If this bill passes it will increase unemployment: it will increase African American unemployment, Hispanic unemployment, youth unemployment and even legal immigrant unemployment."

Jamiel Shaw, the previously mentioned "pissed-off dad" talked about his murdered son at the hands of an illegal immigrant gang member in 2008.

“You have to understand [the murderer] is not the only one. There’s a lot of people in danger," he reportedly said. "If you give everybody amnesty, right now in the Senate bill there is a provision that if you’re in a gang, living in the country, you can still get amnesty. We don’t want that."

Jamiel Shaw, father of murder victim Jamiel Shaw II, pauses as he speaks to reporters after the hearing in which gang member Pedro Espinoza was formally sentenced to death for the 2008 murder, in a Los Angeles court Friday, Nov. 2, 2012. Credit: AP

Allen West, always a crowd favorite, blasted lawmakers for neglecting the country's inner cities while pushing through immigration reform that could cost Americans jobs.

He said "we have a Senate, we have a president, we have people up here on Capitol Hill that think it is more important to reward people who came here illegally than to look to the inner cities, and strengthen the inner cities, and strengthen the black community."

There were reportedly chants of "West for president."

Rep. King spoke about the importance of "the rule of law," according to Breitbart.com.

“We have a great country,” King told supporters at Freedom Plaza. “Our Founding Fathers framed it for us. Their job was harder than ours is. They had to identify the pillars of American exceptionalism. We just have to defend them.”

If liberal media outlets did cover the event, the coverage wasn't fair. Take for example Media Matters, which dubbed the demonstration as an "anti-immigrant" event organized by BALA, a "Front Group For Anti-Immigrant, Nativist Hate Organizations."

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