Thousands of people took to the streets
across the United States on Thursday in immigration protests on May Day,
calling for a comprehensive solution to the country's immigrant laws that has
stalled in the US Congress, DPA reported.
Some of the largest marches, part of annual labour protests organized around
the world, were being held in Chicago, New York and Los Angeles. But the
numbers were smaller than in past years, reflecting the declining priority of
immigration reform on the US political agenda.
In separate actions, west coast dockworkers shut down many ports to protest the
US war in Iraq.
The issue of migration has received little attention from presidential
candidates on the campaign trail, while Congress has no specific plans to
revive controversial legislation that failed in 2006 and 2007.
The debate collapsed primarily over whether to give the country's estimated 12
million undocumented immigrants the opportunity to remain in the country legally
and offer them a pathway towards US citizenship.
Some 20,000 people were expected to join two major marches in Los Angeles,
where immigrant workers make up approximately half the workforce.
In a new twist this year, the marchers were backed by business leaders and the
Los Angeles Area Chamber of Commerce, who called for immigration visas, a path
to legalization for undocumented immigrants and an end to immigration raids on
workplaces.
"This is a landmark moment," Samuel Garrison, the chamber's vice
president of public policy said in a news conference. "Here you have
labour, business, local elected officials, immigrant rights activists and
leading educators all coming together to say this has to stop.
"The raids are frightening workers. They are worrying employers," he
added. "I think it's going to cause of lot of businesses to think twice
about coming to Los Angeles."
Police are on alert and have closed many city streets to accommodate the
demonstrations. They also have adopted new tactics after a disastrous
intervention last year, when police injured marchers and journalists in a
botched effort to disperse what had been a peaceful demonstration.
Jorge Mujica, an organizer in Chicago, said the message of this year's marches
was "don't ignore the issue" of immigration, and to protest raids and
deportations of illegal workers.
"It's not like you close your eyes and when you open them again we are going
to be gone and the problem is going to be fixed," he told US broadcaster CNN.
Immigrant workers united with other minority groups for protests in New York, calling for unity in the face of anti-immigrant rhetoric and planning a march in
southern Manhattan from Union Square to Foley Park.