Hundreds of thousands of people were packing the streets in downtown Los Angeles on Monday to demand legal status for undocumented immigrants.

The City Hall drew the largest crowd of about 50,000 at mid- day,with demonstrators holding placards reading: "We March Today. We Vote Tomorrow"; "We Are Workers, Not Criminals", "Justice Not Just Us", "Mexican Immigrants --Original Natives".

Other downtown areas also reported large crowds of demonstrators, who skipped work or quit school to add their voice in demanding rights for illegal immigrants.

An official tally was not immediately available, although police were estimating between 500,000 and 600,000 people had descended the streets of downtown, the largest number in the city's history.

The throngs of mostly white-shirted demonstrators were mostly Latinos, chanting in Spanish but waving American flags.

"I came here because I want amnesty (for undocumented immigrants)," said a high school student, who refused to be named. He told Xinhua that he answered the call to boycott work and quit school to help illegal immigrants make their voice heard. "They ( illegal immigrants) work long hours and contribute a lot to the country, but they are not equally treated," he said.

A retired worker, Raul Ramiree, said of the undocumented immigrants:``They work hard, they spend a lot of money here, they pay taxes, they pay rent, they pay for our food, just like everyone else, but they are denied their rights.''

``I'm fighting for the working people because I think it's their right to be here,'' said Ramiree, who was hoisting the picture of Uncle Sam, with Spanish words on its head: "We Can Change".

"We can change the law," Ramiree said, referring to the bill passed by the House in December.

The bill would criminalize undocumented immigrants and those who help them, sparking nation-wide protests. The bill would also beef up enforcement at the border, including adding 700 miles of fencing.

Washington has been debating its first major revision of immigration policy in two decades. There is bipartisan support for toughening border security, but the key issues of how to deal with the estimated 11 million to 12 million undocumented workers in the United States and a guest worker plan has opened fissures in both parties.

The issue has also created unusual political alliances. Major industries, including parts of agriculture, apparel and tourism, have joined with labor unions and human rights activists to support changes. Conservatives in both the Democrat and Republican parties have opposed guest-worker programs and paths for citizenship for those illegally in the United States.

President George W Bush supports a guest-worker program and has praised a Senate approach, backed by top Republicans and Democrats. That approach would lead to citizenship for those in the United States illegally, while enforcing border controls.

The U.S. government has also vowed to crack down on employers who hire illegal immigrants. And there have been well-publicized raids by immigration authorities, rounding up hundreds of immigrants with criminal backgrounds in Florida and the Midwest.

Still, most polls show that Americans favor changes in immigration policy by better than a ratio of 2 to 1 and that Californians are even more supportive, according to the Los Angeles Times.

Source: Xinhua