CASA de Maryland turned the unofficial and soon-to-be illegal day laborer hiring site at 17 N Frederick into a bus station on Monday, to pick up about three to four dozen people traveling to Annapolis to rally in support of three bills which favor illegal immigrants.

It is unclear if we will soon be seeing additional bus service running from this location to the new Shady Grove day laborer center, as the Montgomery County Planning Board suggested that a shuttle bus be run from Olde Towne Gaithersburg.

From what I’ve been able to determine, buses such as those in these pictures cost around $1000 per day to charter. They also seem to hold between 45 and 60 passengers, and thus to transport the the 1200 people who reportedly took part in the rally would take as many as 30 of these buses. While I expect many participants used other forms of transportation, it appears they may also have over-allocated buses. I would be curious to know where the money for this activity came from; CASA receives about 45% of its funding directly from government grants and contracts. CASA is also a 501(c)(3) tax-exempt organization, upon which there are restrictions regarding political activities.

CASA de Maryland organized the yesterday’s rally in Annapolis to lobby for the passage of three bills — one to allow illegal immigrants to receive in-state tuition in the University of Maryland system, one to increase funding for ESOL classes sixfold, and one to block implementation of the Federal Real ID standards in Maryland. For more information on the rally, see Lisa Rein’s story in the Washington Post and Cassie Bottge’s report in the Diamondback.

We have no word on how the more than twenty thousand immigrants of all origins and status who live in Gaithersburg but did not attend this rally feel about these bills.

Photos courtesy of a Gaithersblog reader.

Update: The Gazette also has a story on the ralley.