US Migrants Rally for Law Reforms

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BBC World News

US migrants rally for law reforms

Thousands of immigrants are taking part in marches in cities across the US to demand reform of immigration laws.

They want to see better treatment for the estimated 12m illegal immigrants, many of them Latino, living in the US.

Legislation which would offer a "path to citizenship" for illegal migrants as well as tougher border controls is currently stalled in the US Congress.

Reports of a leaked White House plan under which illegal migrants would be charged hefty sums for work visas and residency sparked fresh protests last month from immigrant groups.

Marchers 'afraid'

Rallies are taking place in a number of major cities, including Los Angeles, Miami, New York, Chicago, Washington, Boston and Phoenix, Arizona.

Others have been put off taking part by an increase in government raids targeting illegal workers and the fear of repercussions from employers if they down tools for the day, organisers add.

Los Angeles Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa, the city's first Hispanic mayor in more than a century, said he was not expecting to see the kind of numbers that brought the city to a standstill in 2006.

Separation threat
Many businesses benefit from migrant labour, but immigration opponents call for tighter border controls to protect national security.

Many campaigners for immigrants' rights have focused on the threat of separation faced by families where one or both parents are illegal immigrants but whose children were born in the
US and so have US citizenship.

Another hot top dividing America. Look for the Government to do...nothing.