May 1 (Bloomberg) -- Advocates for immigration rights filled city streets across the U.S. by the thousands today, urging an end to federal raids on undocumented people and pushing for legal status for noncitizens working in the U.S.

Peaceful rallies in New York, Chicago, Washington and Los Angeles drew fewer people than similar marches last year, when the U.S. Congress was considering laws that would have severely punished undocumented workers and those who help them, the Associated Press reported.

An increase in the number of raids in the past year also may have deterred people from showing up today, the AP said, citing march organizers.

``Last year, there was a bill in Congress, that looked as if it had a chance of passing, that would felonize people; now some of that urgency has dissipated,'' said Hans Johnson, who follows immigration issues at the Public Policy Institute of California, in San Francisco. ``Also, with more raids going on, that could escalate fear among non-documented people.''

Tens of thousands of people took to the streets in Chicago chanting and waving banners, the AP said. In New York, immigrants carried a large painting of a tree, symbolizing the roots they hope to establish in the U.S., as they marched from Washington Square Park to Union Square Park.

New York, Washington Rallies

As they walked, people pinned paper leaves to the tree to represent the separation families face because of immigration laws. Norman Eng, a spokesman for the New York Immigration Coalition, didn't immediately return a telephone call.

In Washington, about 150 protesters gathered at a park in Columbia Heights, a neighborhood with a large Hispanic population. The same rally last year drew about 1,000 people, attendees said.

City leaders were urged by speakers at the rally to make Washington a ``sanctuary'' for illegal aliens where welfare agencies wouldn't inquire about immigration status when providing services and police would refuse to help federal immigration officers with deportation raids.

``No human being is illegal,'' said Sonia Umanzor, 49, a nurse and illegal alien from El Salvador. She said she has lived in the U.S. for 25 years. ``In my heart, I feel that I belong here.''

Slow Start

Immigration rallies in Los Angeles got off to a slow start today, in part because of confusion about when the first rally was set to start, the Los Angeles Times said. Initial plans to begin marching in downtown Los Angeles at about 10 a.m. were pushed back to noon local time.

Businesses in the area had urged workers to arrive before 8 because the Los Angeles Police Department had closed streets in the area to accommodate marchers.

Last year, about 650,000 people marched in immigration rallies in the city, fueled in part by students skipping classes to attend.

This year, Los Angeles Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa, civil leaders and school officials urged students to stay in class. City officials estimated 500,000 people would march today in Los Angeles, Cable News Network reported, without citing anyone. The mayor's office and Police Department declined to provide official estimates of the number of people marching today.

Illegal Immigrants

About 5,000 people attended the first rally today in downtown Los Angeles, which was smaller than officials had anticipated, Los Angeles Police Commander Louis H. Gray Jr. told the Los Angeles Times.

A second march was planned this afternoon around MacArthur Park, in the mid-Wilshire region of Los Angeles.

``What happened last year was incredible in terms of the numbers of people turning up,'' Johnson said. ``Many cities had the largest protests ever recorded, and that's hard to sustain. Also, with the Democrats wielding more power in the House, the immigration debate that was spotlighted last year is still being discussed.''

The number of people turning up to march in Los Angeles will be scrutinized because the city is home to more than 1 million illegal immigrants, the Los Angeles Times and Associated Press reported.

The first of the marches in Los Angeles today was organized by March 25 Coalition. Among demands by the coalition is that immediate, permanent, non-revocable legal residence be granted for all undocumented people who live in the U.S.

Coalition organizers William Torres and Javier Rodriguez didn't immediately return telephone messages.

To contact the reporter on this story: Samantha Zee in Los Angeles at szee@bloomberg.net.

Last Updated: May 1, 2007 18:52 EDT