US & World News

CHICAGO (CBS) ― Thousands of people supporting more lenient treatment of illegal immigrants marched through downtown Chicago and rallied on the lakefront Wednesday, calling for a moratorium on deportations.

Marchers gathered at Grant Park after passing through downtown in waves, some chanting "We are Americans!" and others hoisting U.S. flags and signs with messages such as "Deportation equals broken families" and "We build your American dream."

Chicago Police Superintendent Philip Cline estimated the crowd at 10,000 and said it was a peaceful event with no arrests. Event organizers said they believed 50,000 people participated.

Many of the rally speakers spoke in Spanish, including U.S. Rep. Luis Gutierrez, D.-Ill, who also exhorted the crowd in English that "it is through your actions and mobilizations that you will get Congress to act on immigration reform."

It was the city's third large immigration-themed rally since March. This time, the focus was on calling for a moratorium on deportations of illegal immigrants and sanctions on businesses that employ them while Congress debates immigration legislation.

"We make up a part of this country, and we're here and we're not leaving," protester Christina Perez said.

A recent University of Illinois at Chicago poll shows the majority of those marching are U.S. citizens.

"They march because they have the power to vote," protester Hamilton Lopez said.

Marchers passed through downtown in waves, some chanting "We are Americans!" and others hoisting U.S. flags and signs with messages such as "Deportation equals broken families" and "We build your American dream."

The protesters said they were not expecting hundreds of thousands of marchers like at previous rallies in Chicago in March and May, but the crowds say they still want to be heard.

"We're not giving up, to let them know we're still here, we're not giving up," said protester Guadalupe Moreno. "Because the first (march), they didn't give us our papers, the second one they didn't, the third one – we'll still keep going. We're not giving up."

Rally participant Elizabeth Navarro, 26, of Harvey said her family feels like they are living in limbo while waiting for lawmakers to act. Navarro is a citizen but her husband is in the country illegally.

"We're living day by day, waiting to see what we hear (from Washington). So far it's nothing good," Navarro said.

The U.S. House passed a bill late last year that would make it a felony for illegal immigrants to be in the U.S. That prompted rallies by Latinos and others protesting for immigrants' rights, including a massive one in Chicago in May that drew about 400,000 marchers.

The Senate, backed by the president, passed a bipartisan bill that would increase border security while also providing a path to citizenship for many of the estimated 12 million illegal immigrants.

So far, the House and Senate have reached no consensus on the issue.

"We want to get our families secure in this country. We love this country," protester Gerardo Vega said.

Rally organizers say some immigrants being deported are then banned from returning to the United States for years, possibly robbing them of taking advantage of any kind of path to citizenship or guest worker program that eventually gets established.

"It causes an economic crisis (for businesses) as well as hurt these people's personal lives when they get deported," said Emma Lozano, executive director of one of the organizing groups, Centro Sin Fronteras. "We have to stop separating families."

Marcher Carlos Herrera, 25, of Chicago said he moved to the United States with his parents when he was 5 years old. He had a visa then, but it has expired.

"I was brought here when I was five. How could I break the law when I was 5 years old?" Herrera asked. "If I were to be deported to Mexico, there would be nothing there for me.

"I'm an American because I've been here all my life. There's just that piece of paper that says I'm not."

Seventy-year-old retiree Mollie R. Levi was eating lunch with her husband in the West Loop when the march went by. They stepped outside to show their support, and Levi called immigration reform an urgent civil rights issue.

As she watched marchers file past, many carrying American flags, Levi said the demonstration "reminds me of the marches I was in during Dr. King's day for civil rights."

To battle the sweltering heat, organizers set up a cooling station at the park with jets of water for people to walk through. Firefighters opened hydrants along the march route and encouraged marchers to step through the water and cool off.

The event started in Union Park, west of the Loop. Participants then marched through downtown to Grant Park, about 3 miles from the starting point.

To protect against the heat, cases of water were given out. Organizers said they did not want to postpone the march for the heat, but they encouraged the elderly, the very young, and those with health conditions not to march.

The city had set up eight medical stations between Union Park and Grant Park.

(© 2006 CBS Broadcasting Inc. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. The Associated Press contributed to this report.)