Immigration leaders announced plans Friday for a national day of action for immigration reform.
One year after massive immigration protests were held across the country, organizers say they will once again take to the streets on May 1st to demand justice.
This year’s protest in the city will focus on families who, organizers say, have been torn apart by constant raids and deportations.
While the protest is not expected to draw the massive numbers seen last year, planners say it will still carry an important message.
"We want to put a human face to these families who, under our current immigration regime, are being uprooted from their communities through violent raids and deportation, facing painful years of separation, said Javier Valdes of the New York Immigrant Coalition (Make the Road by Walking is a founding member of the coalition).
"They are our neighbors, they are our friends, and we need to stop these raids and this culture of fear, said Leticia Alanis, also of the New York Immigration Coalition. We need to protect our rights."
Last year’s protests and boycotts brought out tens of thousands of people to Union Square and over a million nationwide.