By Alex Dobuzinskis
LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - Thousands of mostly Latino protesters marched through downtown Los Angeles in a boisterous but peaceful May Day rally on Wednesday urging an overhaul of immigration laws to provide potential citizenship for millions of undocumented residents.
The march was believed to be the largest of more than a dozen similar demonstrations planned in cities across California by a coalition of organized labor activists, students, civil rights advocates and members of the clergy.
In Arizona, where a state crackdown against illegal immigration was signed into law three years ago, organizers expected several hundred people to join a late-afternoon rally outside the state Capitol in Phoenix, ahead of a march through downtown.
The protests come about two weeks after a bipartisan group of U.S. senators introduced an 844-page bill, backed by President Barack Obama, that would rewrite America's immigration laws.
A centerpiece of the measure would create a path to legal status and ultimately citizenship for many of the 11 million undocumented immigrants in the United States.
It also aims to secure the U.S. border with Mexico against illegal entry and to make it easier for industry, particularly high-tech business and agriculture, to hire workers from abroad when needed.
Obama has made immigration reform one of his top priorities for 2013.
The protesters, who are generally supportive of the proposed immigration revamp, called for the U.S. government to halt deportations of individuals who are potentially eligible for eventual citizenship.
Waving American flags and carrying signs with the slogan, "Stop deportations," the demonstrators chanted in Spanish, "Obama! Escucha! Estamos en la lucha!" ("Obama! Listen! We are in the fight!"), as they marched under sunny skies down one of downtown's main thoroughfares.
The march spanned across more than two large city blocks, and one police officer told Reuters that unofficial estimates put the size of the crowd at roughly 3,500 people. No arrests were reported.
Wendy Carrillo, a spokeswoman for the Service Employees International Union, one of the organizing groups, said march leaders expected to draw at least 10,000 demonstrators throughout the day.
"I think it's a really good start to get people to come together to feel empowered," said Raiza Arias, 19, a college student who wore a black traditional Mexican-style dress and a scarf over her pink-dyed hair, as she walked at the front of the march.
The throng paraded behind a flatbed truck carrying a band playing festive cumbia music.
While most protesters appeared to be Latino, there were a number of Asian groups, including a Korean-American contingent who banged on traditional drums strapped to their torsos.
(Additional reporting by Richard Cowan in Washington and Tim Gaynor in Phoenix; Writing by Steve Gorman)
Source: http://news.yahoo.com/thousands-call-immigration-reform-los-angeles-may-day-002300781.html
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