Utah Latinos plan to rally March 21 to coincide with a plan by activists across the nation to descend on Washington D.C. to urge federal action on immigration reform.

Several area Latino groups met Saturday at Centro Civico Mexicano to measure support for the march, after learning of the national effort. They agreed to begin at noon March 21 and march from the Salt Lake City & County Building to the state Capitol.

"We need to show Utah also demands to be part of immigration reform," said Raul Lopez-Varga, of the Utah Mexican Club Federation, who led the event along with Proyecto Latino Director Tony Yapias.

The nearly 250 people who attended the Saturday meeting want Utah to be part of national efforts to call for reform through marches set for March 21 and May 1. Many have memories of the May 2006 rally for immigration reform in which thousands descended on downtown Salt Lake City.

Participants of the meeting agreed to name their movement to mobilize "Utahns for Immigration Reform Coalition."

Saturday's meeting was broadcast on AM 1550 radio. Although the broadcast was in Spanish, participants urged other immigrant communities to get involved. Britons, Canadians, Koreans and others want change, too, said Epifanio Arciniega of Taylorsville, "It's not just Hispanics who are illegal."

As with the march four years ago, people are encouraged to wear white, carry the American flag and hold signs in English. And many took the forum as a chance to tell those in attendance about English-as-a-second-language classes, and other volunteer opportunities.

Gladys Aguilera, of Brigham City, told participants to educate themselves as best they can and to push their children to learn.

"I believe that's why we came here, to give the most we can to this country -- that we're not the trash they think we are," Aguilera said.

Other audience members suggested no-buy days or strikes to showcase the importance of immigrants' payroll and sales taxes.

"The economy is what hurts Americans the most," said Jose Gutierrez of Salt Lake City, emphasizing the need to highlight the contributions immigrants make to their local communities.

Apart from calling for federal immigration reform, Yapias told the crowd to contact their representatives at the Utah Legislature to voice their concerns about SB251.

The bill would require Utah companies with more than 15 employees to use the E-Verify system to check a worker's legal immigrant status. The legislation, written by Sen. Chris Buttars, R-West Jordan, cleared the Senate on Friday and goes before the House next.

Yapias said he supports using E-Verify only as part of federal "comprehensive" immigration reform.

mariav@sltrib.com

Capitol rally

Students and community members are set to rally at 3 p.m. Thursday at the state Capitol in opposition to bills they say would harm marginalized people in Utah.