[QUOTE]LOS ANGELES, California (AP) -- Hispanic and other civil rights groups wrapped up plans for immigration reform marches and rallies Tuesday in dozens of cities, but conceded that a replay of last year's huge turnout was unlikely.

Still, organizers said the demonstrations reflect a robust movement determined to win a path to citizenship for the estimated 12 million illegal immigrants in the country.

"There was a sort of energy last year," said Gordon Mayer, a vice president of the Community Media Workshop, which helped groups organize the Chicago march. "This year that boulder has split up into a lot of smaller rocks."

Marches, meetings and voter registration drives were planned from Oregon to Florida. (U.S.-born kids want immigrant parents to stay )

In Miami, Democratic Party Chair Howard Dean planned to speak to immigrant groups. In Washington, D.C., about 400 members of Asian groups from across the country were set to lobby lawmakers. Two large demonstrations were planned in Los Angeles County -- home to an estimated 1 million illegal immigrants.

Last year's May 1 boycott brought out more than a million protesters across the nation. But later rallies failed to produce large turnouts, as legislation stalled in Congress and bipartisan proposals for illegal immigrants to gain citizenship have become more conservative.

The developments have disheartened many would-be marchers, but organizers said the frustration with Congress also brought out new supporters.

"It used to be that Hispanic immigrants, those who came legally, were more conservative on the issue," said Joe Garcia, a Cuban-American who heads the Democratic Party's Miami-Dade County chapter.

"But now it's become so wrapped up with issues of racism and identity, even Puerto Ricans and Cubans care about immigration," he said.

Yet stepped-up raids in recent months have left many immigrants afraid to speak out in public -- a major change over rallies in 2006 when some illegal immigrants wore T-shirts saying "I'm illegal. So what?"

"The raids are intended to terrorize people and make President Bush look tough," said Joshua Hoyt, executive director of the Illinois Coalition for Immigrant and Refugee Rights. "But they are not a solution."

Some Los Angeles area groups 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.

Others have rejected the boycott, arguing that it puts immigrants' livelihoods at risk and deprives children of valuable classroom time. Los Angeles Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa and Cardinal Roger Mahony, head of the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Los Angeles, urged students to stay in school.

"This is a very decentralized and organic movement, so in all different cities people will be doing what they feel is important in their area," said Eliseo Medina, executive vice president of the Service Employees International Union, a major organizer of rallies.

Among the events planned:

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

In Chicago, organizers had to scramble to get the word out after police on Monday moved the site of their rally from Daley Plaza in the heart of downtown to Grant Park along the lakefront. Police said Daley Plaza was too small for the expected crowd of more than 7,000 marchers.

In Fresno, California, organizers planned a rally focusing on children whose parents had been deported. The San Joaquin Valley is home to thousands of seasonal workers who cross the Mexican border illegally each year to work in the fields and construction industry.

In Milwaukee, Wisconsin, Ricardo Chavez, the brother of famed agricultural labor leader Cesar Chavez, was expected to speak, as protesters demanded a stop to immigration raids. A raid last year in Whitewater, Wisconsin, saw the arrests of 25 workers and the owner of a packaging plant. Mothers were separated from their children.

In Florida, voter registration drives and vigils were planned in Miami, Tampa, Orlando and West Palm Beach, along with after-hours rallies in agricultural towns in the Everglades.

In Los Angeles, marches will include demands for a legalization program, a stop to the raids and an anti-Iraq war message. City and transportation officials were planning for as many as 500,000 people in downtown, believing it could be the largest in the city so far this year.[/QUOTE]

I swear to Gatling God, if anyone gets in my ****ing face and starts chanting that retarded slogan or starts putting me down for being white and not bowing to the superior mexican race or anything like that for the matter I am going to ****ing kick them in the teeth. Getting home itself is going to be hell since I have already been notified by Metro that protestors have already threatened to shut them down for the day to kill businesses. Please do, then please die in a hail of ****ing gun fire (Can you tell I am pissed off today?).

I find it ****ing retarded these morons tell the mexican student not to go to class and go rally and support their fellow mexicans. Yeah thats it, pull them out of the one place they may have a chance at getting an education that may lead to them getting a good job...wait what am I talking about LA USD is the worst school district in the state, they will more than likely drop out and be flipping burgers anyway(not a racist remark, the LA USD has a high drop out rate every year).

This thing is going to turn into a race riot, and I feel it will be sometime soon. Just for the fact that the Minuet Men are going to be holding a counter protest and in the mindset of the protesters if you disagree with them you are racist. So there is pleanty of room for the race card to be misplayed today. Who knows maybe LA will be closed down for a few days after a couple dumbasses try to pick a fight with a cop and it sparks another riot.

God I hate humans.

[QUOTE]In Fresno, California, organizers planned a rally focusing on children whose parents had been deported. The San Joaquin Valley is home to thousands of seasonal workers who cross the Mexican border illegally each year to work in the fields and construction industry.[/QUOTE]

Sorry to sound like a dick, but I don't give a **** if you have a kid in the US, you broke the law you deserve to be punished for it. We don't set any other criminals free just because nobody will be able to care for the kids, so why should they get special treatment. And yes they are criminals, just for the simple fact that they broke a federal law.