Crowds Smaller at Immigrant Rallies

Thousands of supporters of immigrant rights gathered in more than a dozen cities on Thursday afternoon. But the crowds seemed smaller than at comparable events in past years, with the turnout apparently depressed by fear of arrest.
The rallies, held in Los Angeles, Chicago and New York among other cities, called for changes in immigration laws and a reduction in police raids and arrests that have led to increased deportations in recent years. Many people who took part in the rallies — some of them community leaders, others the loved ones of immigrants or immigrants themselves — said they were there to press for basic human rights. “I saw an ad in the paper last night, and I said I had to be here,” said Auxiliary Bishop Richard J. Sklba of the Roman Catholic archdiocese of Milwaukee, who took part in a march of roughly three miles in that city. “I am here to support immigration reform, and to support care for all illegal immigrants.”