Hundreds of thousands of US flag-waving protestors poured onto the streets of US cities in new demonstrations against a proposed crackdown on the estimated 11.5 million undocumented immigrants.
More than 100,000 people packed the National Mall in Washington on Monday as religious leaders and politicians encouraged them to fight for legal rights and citizenship for undocumented immigrants.
At least 75,000 marched through the Arizona city of Phoenix, tens of thousands packed the streets around City Hall in New York, more than 30,000 paraded through Atlanta, Georgia and another 75,000 campaigned in Fort Myers, Florida, while smaller rallies were held in scores of cities in a bid to put pressure on Congress over immigration reforms.
"All we want is the American Dream," people chanted in Houston, Texas.
The protests came in reaction to efforts in the US Congress to tighten controls on illegal immigrants. In December the House of Representatives passed legislation that would make unapproved entry a crime and step up the construction of a wall on the US-Mexico border.
But efforts in the Senate last week on a compromise bill that could open the way for many undocumented workers to be legalized collapsed in a swamp of political recriminations.
In Washington on Monday marchers waving US flags chanted "USA, USA" and "Si se puede" (Yes we can), as speakers, including Senator Ted Kennedy, encouraged them to fight for citizenship.
"We are a nation of immigrants," Kennedy said to cheers, as his words were translated into Spanish. "It is time for Americans to lift their voices now - in pride for out immigrant past and in pride for out immigrant future," said Kennedy, one of the sponsors of the failed Senate bill.
The new wave of demonstrations has been building again since the Senate deadlock. On Sunday up to 500,000 people marched through Dallas, Texas. Protests also surfaced in small towns around the country. Some 1,500 hit the streets in Jackson, Mississippi, and up to 4,500 gathered in Lake Worth, Florida. Laura Hannah, spokeswoman for Lake Worth's mayor, called it the "biggest protest in recent times".
"The goal is to stop anti-immigrant legislation from becoming law and to pass real, comprehensive immigration reform that provides a clear path to citizenship, unites families, and ensures workplace and civil rights protections," said Nativo Lopez, president of the Mexican American Political Association, in Los Angeles.
Los Angeles' Hispanic Mayor, Antonio Villaraigosa, spoke at a candlelight vigil called here following the US Senate's failure to approve legislation that would have provided a path to citizenship to some illegal immigrants.
"Today we say to America - we've come here to work," Villaraigosa told the crowd of up to 10,000 people. "We clean your toilets. We clean your hotels. We build your houses. We take care of your children. We want you to help us take care of our children as well."
Immigration is a growing concern in advance of November's mid-term elections. Three-quarters of Americans say that the government is not doing enough to stop illegal immigration, according to a poll released on Monday by The Washington Post and ABC television.
On Monday President George W. Bush, whose "guest worker" proposal failed to overcome a split in his Republican Party, called for compassion and for enforcing immigration laws. "Understand that we're a nation of immigrants, that we ought to be compassionate about this debate," he said, while adding: "Obviously, we've got to secure the border and enforce the law."
Most of the illegal workers in the United States are from Mexico and other Latin American countries and many Hispanic families took their children on the protests. Organizers pointed out that many of the protestors are legal immigrants with voting rights.
"We march in the streets, but we will also march to the voting booth in November," said Eliseo Medina, head of the Service Employees International Union, an organizer of the New York march.
Immigrants stage mass protests in US cities
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