Immigrant-rights marches draw smaller crowds

In Washington, more than 100 demonstrators marched to demand immigration reform and criticizing raids which they said had taken immigrant parents away from their children.

"Nobody wants their kids to come home and not find their parents. Our community is fearful," organizer Jaime Contreras said.

The latest rallies come as U.S. lawmakers seek to write an immigration bill that would provide tougher border control and workplace enforcement while addressing the status of illegal immigrants.

Federal legislation to create a "guest-worker" program and offer many illegal immigrants eventual citizenship failed last year in the face of stiff opposition from Republicans.

U.S. officials and lawmakers remained divided on chances for immigration legislation in coming weeks.

"I think there is a reasonably good chance (that a law will be passed) but I don't want to underestimate the challenges," Homeland Security Secretary Michael Chertoff told

CNN.

(Additional reporting by Tim Gaynor and David Schwartz in Phoenix, Mike Conlon in Chicago, Jeremy Pelofsky and Paul Eckert in Washington and Michelle Nichols in New York.)