Over 1,500 people took to the streets in the Californian town of Costa Mesa on Saturday to protest plans for a U.S. legislative crackdown on illegal immigrants.

Organizers said 2,500 people joined the demonstration, but police put the turnout at around 1,500. The march, which was rowdy but peaceful, was the first major event in California following a massive demonstration a week ago in Los Angeles that drew around 500,000 people.

The town of Costa Mesa is said to be planning to become the first American city to allow its police to act as immigration officers by arresting and helping to expel undocumented workers.

Other large-scale protests in Los Angeles are expected to take place on April 10 and May 1. Hispanic groups are calling for a "withdrawal from the economy" around the whole nation by staging "a day without Latinos or a day without immigrants."

The U.S. House of Representatives in December passed a bill that would make illegal entry into the United States a crime and

heavily penalize employers of undocumented workers, opening the floodwaters of protest in the Hispanic community, now the largest minority group in the United States.

President George W. Bush wants a guest worker program that would allow immigrants to come to the United States for a certain period, and then have to go home. But the more conservative wing of his Republican Party sees that as akin to an amnesty and rewarding those who have entered the country illegally.

Source: Xinhua