In previous years, immigration reform gathered hundreds of thousands of people together to rally for a better system concerning foreign aliens. According to Fox, at times 500,000 men and women have gathered to cheer for this cause in Los Angeles, 250,000 have conglomerated in Chicago, and 100,000 have picketed in New York City. While the courts and the political authorities are still working through immigration reform, the rallies this year have dwindled drastically.

May Day is notorious as a rallying day. Activists use this holiday to push for immigration and champion the conditions of the approximately 11 million illegal immigrants in the United States. Many times it is the friends and families of the illegal immigrants that will parade the streets with signs support a mass citizenship grant and condemning deportation. They say that America is the land of the free, and often claim that the harsh deportation of illegal immigrants is not consistent with the American ideals. Yet this year the concern for immigrants was eclipsed by the heated Occupy movement, which has more to do with the economy.

Many immigrant activists say that they are not concerned about the drop in picketers and rallies this year. They say that they past few years they have been working towards getting more eligible immigrants to become U.S. citizens and then use their newfound residency as a platform to vote for reform. They hope that by getting many like-minded immigrants into positions of influence, they will be able to sway the political leaders to their point of view, and help aliens to remain in the country for longer and get citizenship faster.

With this hope, activists have also encountered a new fear. The U.S. Supreme Court is currently considering Arizona's controversial illegal immigrant crackdown. The state passed a law in 2007 which declared that police must ask for immigration papers from anyone that they stop or arrest and think may be illegal. The Obama administration has challenged this law, but it still holds up within the state. If the U.S. Supreme Court was to adopt the law as a federal statute, it would lead to more deportations than ever before. Georgia has invoked a similar law, and is working to deport the many Hispanic immigrants who enter the country by crossing the border from Mexico illegally.

The activists who are still standing strong hope that America will loosen their tough crackdown on immigrants, and slowly allow amnesty to the people who have entered the country. One rally leader says that he believes Americans do not give up. He echoes the cries of millions when he says that he does not want free housing or complimentary health care- he simply wants a chance. Activists for immigration were given a renewed hope when millions were granted legal citizenship in 1986 during an immigrant reform movement.

Since then, laws have volleyed back and forth on the issue of immigration. In 1994 California prohibited illegal aliens from obtaining a social security number and using health care and educations services in the country. This law was thrown out later on, but angered immigration activists. In another instance in 2005, the United States House of Representatives determined that anyone who attempted to help an undocumented immigrant could be prosecuted. This caused a renewed activism, and sent people into the cities shouting their opinions.

Later, the U.S. Senate pacified the cries of the people by setting forth a bill that would have granted citizenship to immigrants. This bill was terminated before it could be put into effect. While the turn out this May Day may have been more focused on the U.S. economic situation, there is no doubt that immigrant activists are still working towards their goals and hoping to see reform in this area of the American lifestyle.