Thousands demonstrating against proposals to tighten a US immigration law staged protests in Los Angeles Sunday, dragging the widespread demonstration into the third day.

At least 3,500 people demonstrated in downtown Los Angeles to denounce the proposed legislation aimed at drastically curbing illegal immigration, said the Los Angeles police.

The rally was held to show "support for meaningful immigration reform and oppose inhumane legislation," said Mark Grossman, spokesman for United Farm Workers of America, which organized Sunday's demonstration.

The US House of Representatives has passed legislation that would make it a felony to be in the United States illegally, impose new penalties on employers who hire illegal immigrants, require churches to check the legal status of people they help, and erect fences along one-third of the US-Mexican border.

The legislation has spurred Americans, especially immigrants, to demonstrate their outrage.

Protests erupted across the country over the weekend, led by more than 500,000 people who marched through downtown Los Angeles on Saturday in one of the largest demonstrations in recent US history. Marchers also took to the streets in Phoenix, Milwaukee, Dallas and Columbus.

(Xinhua News Agency March 27, 2006)