U.S. immigrants gear up for nationwide marches

By Tim Gaynor

PHOENIX (Reuters) - Pro-immigration activists geared up for marches in several U.S. cities on Tuesday to demand rights for illegal immigrants, though numbers are likely to be down from the mass rallies of a year ago, organisers said.

Demonstrations, consumer boycotts and school walkouts are planned from coast to coast by groups calling for an end to a recent crackdown on undocumented aliens and better treatment for the estimated 11 million people living and working unlawfully in the shadows of American society.

A year ago, hundreds of thousands of mostly Hispanic immigrants walked off the job and packed the streets of major cities from New England to California in a massive show of their economic clout.

The latest rallies come as U.S. lawmakers are struggling to devise a workable compromise on immigration, seeking a formula to provide tougher border control and workplace enforcement while addressing the status of illegal immigrants.

Federal legislation that would have created a guest-worker program and offered many illegal immigrants a shot at citizenship failed last year in the face of stiff opposition from a group of Republicans in the U.S. House of Representatives.

This year, protest organisers expect participation to be lower than last, citing waning support for the rallies in the Spanish-language media and stepped-up immigration raids that have struck fear in many immigrant communities nationwide.

"Our people are afraid to come out and march," said Elias Bermudez of the Phoenix-based Immigrants Without Borders group, which is organising a rally in central Phoenix.

Bermudez said he expected some 5,000 to 10,000 protesters to march to the Arizona state capital on Tuesday morning, a fraction of the number who took part last year.