Organizers hoped a strong national showing would prompt Congress to pass immigration reform legislation before lawmakers become engulfed in the looming presidential primaries.

"If we don’t act, then both the Democratic and Republican parties can go back to their comfort zones and do nothing," said Angelica Salas, director of the Coalition for Humane Immigrant Rights of Los Angeles. "They won’t have the courage to resolve a major situation for millions of people."

Marches, meetings and voter registration drives got under way from California to New York, a year after 1 million people flexed their economic muscle in a nationwide boycott on May 1.

Democratic Party Chairman Howard Dean told immigrant supporters in Miami that a reform bill currently before Congress was "insane" because it would require many illegal immigrants to return home before applying for citizenship.

"This is a government that can’t find a 6-foot-4 terrorist. How is it going to find 12 million people?" he told a group of more than 100 party supporters at Miami’s Parrot Jungle Island.

Ricardo Chavez, the brother of the late farm labor leader Cesar Chavez, was expected to address crowds in Milwaukee.

About 3,500 people marched in Phoenix and Tucson, waving signs reading "Stop the roundups" and "The sleeping giant woke up forever."

Hours before a march was set to begin in Chicago, several thousand demonstrators began arriving carrying flags, signs and placards, including one that read, "We may not have it all together, but together we can have it all."

"Recent raids have worried me," said Thomas Rodriguez, 38, an illegal immigrant whose been in the country since 1989. "We worry deportations are leaving too many young people without parents."

About 3,500 people gathered in downtown Los Angeles an hour before a march was set to begin. Many were dressed in red, white and blue and waved American and Mexican flags. Los Angeles County is home to about 1 million illegal immigrants, by far the largest concentration in America.

Los Angeles public school teacher David Cid said he came to support his students, many of whom are suffering because of recent raids that have impacted their families.

"They feel terrorized," said Cid, who declined to give more details about where he works to protect his students.

Protesters said that while anger over raids would bring people out, fear would also keep many at home.

That was apparent in Atlanta, where no rallies were planned, even though 50,000 marched on May 1 last year.

Organizers said immigrants were afraid of the raids and of a new Georgia state law set to take effect in July. The law requires verification that adults seeking non-emergency state-administered benefits are in the country legally, sanctions employers who knowingly hire illegal immigrants, and requires police to check the immigration status of people they arrest.

"There’s a lot of anxiety and fear in the immigrant community," said Jerry Gonzalez of the Georgia Association of Latino Elected Officials.

In Washington, D.C., several hundred members of Asian groups from across the country made a lobbying push with lawmakers.

In New York, groups planned an "American Family Tree" rally, where immigrants would pin paper leaves on a large painting of a tree to symbolize the separation of families because of strict immigration laws.

The event is a response to a White House immigration reform proposal in March, said Chung-Wha Hong, executive director of the New York Immigration Coalition.

That plan would grant illegal immigrants three-year work visas for $3,500 but also require them to return home to apply for U.S. residency and pay a $10,000 fine. It has been roundly criticized by immigrant groups.

In Los Angeles, some groups have called for an economic boycott and hoped for a repeat of last year, when thousands of immigrants and students stayed away from work and school in a sign of solidarity.

Other groups have rejected the boycott, arguing it puts immigrants’ livelihoods at risk and deprives children of valuable classroom time.

In Oakland, about 2,000 people marched to City Hall. In the crowd was Gloria Ramos, 51, a social worker at a children’s nonprofit who left her native Mexico for Oakland 32 years ago.

"Nothing has happened since last year," she said. "Things are getting worse for our people — more discrimination, less benefits."

      
Associated Press writers Jeremiah Marquez in Los Angeles, Juliana Barbassa in Oakland, Amanda Lee Myers in Phoenix, Garance Burke in Fresno, Laura Wides-Munoz in Miami, Sophia Tareen in Chicago and Giovanna Dell’Orto in Atlanta contributed to this story.

On the Net:  www.mayday2007.org