Thousands gather in downtown Los Angeles to support immigrant rights

LOS ANGELES, May 1 (Xinhua) -- Thousands of people gathered Thursday in downtown Los Angeles for a mass rally and demonstration to support immigrants' rights, a year after a similar event ended in clashes between police and demonstrators.

By late morning, several hundred people had gathered at the location -- one of three staging areas for people to gather before marching through downtown streets, and then to a rally at MacArthur park, where conflicts happened at the end of last year's demonstration.

The crowd was generally festive, with vendors selling hot dogs and ice cream and participants using air horns and rattles to make noise. Many people carried American flags and some had Mexican flags.

Pro-immigration rallies are also being held in others cities around the United States country to call for immigration reform, an end to raids on employers of undocumented workers and amnesty or a pathway to citizenship for illegal immigrants, organizers said.

In Los Angeles, where May Day organizers specifically celebrate the contributions of the immigrant workers who make up nearly half of the region's workforce, two separate major marches are planned. Demonstrators are expected to converge in downtown Los Angeles in the afternoon for a rally.

Following last year's melee, which resulted in lawsuits and an overhaul of the LAPD's elite Metro Division, police officers underwent extensive training in crowd control.

LAPD Chief William Bratton said earlier that police are well-prepared for this year's event and that the event will be "a walk in the park."

Organizers are expecting 20,000 to 100,000 people to show up for Thursday's event. There were about 10,000 demonstrators last year.