1,000's Immigrant rights activists join protests nationwide

http://ap.google.com/article/ALeqM5g-yeeu4NtQOy4zpPnNXvBCIgZuVQD90D0M7O0

By SOPHIA TAREEN – 6 hours ago

CHICAGO — Thousands of immigrants and activists gathered in cities across the country Thursday to demand comprehensive immigration reform, including citizenship opportunities for the estimated 12 million illegal immigrants in the U.S.

Turnout has fallen sharply since the first nationwide rallies in 2006, when more than 1 million people — at least 400,000 in Chicago alone — flooded streets and brought traffic to a standstill.

Activists hoping to re-ignite the immigration debate in time for the presidential elections say this year's efforts are focused less on protests and more on voter registration and setting an agenda for the next president.

Nevertheless, they planned to take to the streets from Miami to Dallas to Los Angeles for May Day protests.

"We come to let Washington know we're still here. We're still fighting," said Jorge Guzman, 34, as crowds swelled in Chicago's Union Park before a march to a federal plaza downtown.

Guzman, a legal immigrant from Mexico, was among a group of about 100 marchers from the Chicago suburb of Waukegan, where tension mounted after city officials applied for a federal program that would train local police to help enforce immigration laws.

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