Though it’s been nearly 20 years since Cesar Chavez died, a rally and march in his honor Saturday was anything but backward-looking.

Marching more than a mile through the streets from Mission Hills to Pacoima, hundreds of mostly young people chanted, many carrying signs that focused on the current debate over immigrants’ rights.

"Obama keep your promise," more than one read, referring to a proposed law giving legal status to children whose parents brought them to the country illegally.

"We are the future! Not criminals," another sign read.

The theme of the day, as announced on a banner on the stage at Brand Park in Mission Hills, was "No human being is illegal."

Chavez’s 19-year-old grandson, Andres Chavez, spoke at the rally and said later he was glad to see so many people carrying on his grandfather’s legacy of activism.

Cesar Chavez, who was born in 1927 in Arizona, was a community organizer who fought for the rights of farm workers. In 1962, he founded the National Farm Workers Association, which became United Farm Workers.

The rallies in Chavez’ honor in the San Fernando Valley began in 1994, the year after he died. They’re held around his birthday, March 31.

Hundreds of high school students came Saturday, a youth turnout that surprised even organizer Adrian Estrada.

Looking around at the young people, Edwin Salguero, who is in his 30s, said, "This is the future."

Sixteen-year-old Alex Garcia, an Arleta High School student, was asked what Chavez means to him.

"He’s sort of like our…" he paused. "Our spokesperson. He represents us."

Andres Chavez, a college student from Bakersfield whose grandfather died nine months before he was born, told attendees: "Right now is the time we have to stand up, make our voices heard and tell the hypocrites out there, the people that call us illegal, that no human being is illegal."

After speeches in Brand Park, participants gathered on the street, watching as people in ceremonial outfits and headdresses drummed and chanted.

The city had shut down the streets, and police cars drove ahead of and behind what was called a "March for Justice."

The group passed under the Interstate 5 and 118 freeway overpasses and drew honks of support from cars and big-rig drivers. The march ended at Ritchie Valens Park in Pacoima, where there were tents selling food, art and crafts and offering health information.

Briana Izazaga, 17, walked carrying a small sign decorated with rainbow colors that said, "We’re all humans." She said she was there in support of marriage equality for same-sex couples.

Chavez’s name is a daily presence in many students’ lives. Briana is a student at the Cesar Chavez Learning Academies in San Fernando. At San Fernando High School, the auditorium is named for Chavez.

And the name has become shorthand for activism, so people came for their own reasons, as reflected in the variety of signs. "Stop poisoning our corn," one said.

But the overriding issue was immigrants’ rights, which has come to the front burner in recent years with states cracking down on undocumented immigrants in Arizona and an unsettled debate in Congress.

Congress hasn’t passed the "DREAM Act," which would offer legal status to some people brought here by their parents. But President Obama has instituted a version of it by executive order, and states including California have their own laws offering some rights.

Estrada said some students who came Saturday are undocumented themselves. Others have legal status but belong to "dreamers" groups that support the rights of undocumented students.

Josue Diaz of Arleta, whose son is in a dreamers group, said he knows people who can’t get jobs though they’ve grown up and gone to school here. Diaz is glad young people are getting involved in the fight to change that.

"I think that they feel that right now is their time," said Estrada, who works for the San Fernando-based nonprofit group Pueblo y Salud (People and Health). "They have to do something. You don’t allow them to go to school, get a license, what kind of future do they have? What kind of future does the country have?"

eric.hartley@dailynews.com

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