Advocates rally against deportation

PHOENIX (AP):Immigration advocates and supporters rallied on the weekend, in cities across the country, as they renewed efforts to push President Barack Obama to put a freeze on deportations.

Organisers of the more than 50 planned 'Day of Action' demonstrations said Obama has the executive power to stop deportations that separate immigrants living in the country illegally from their loved ones.

In Eloy, Arizona, more than 100 supporters converged in front of United States (US) Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) detention centre after journeying more than 60 miles from Phoenix.

Natally Cruz, an organiser with the grass-roots group Puente Arizona, said many of the people in attendance have relatives who have been inside the facility for more than a year.

Immediate stop

"We want President Obama and his administration to really hear our community members across the country, to understand we do not want one more person separated," said Cruz, who entered the US at age eight illegally with her parents. "One family, every night, goes to bed missing somebody in their family."

Many walked with signs saying "Not 1 More Deportation" and calling for deferred deportation action for all. The group included a woman whose son has been in the Eloy Detention Center for nearly three years and a woman who was arrested at her work and detained for two months, the group said.