NEW YORK, May 1 (Xinhua) -- Thousands of immigrants and their supporters took the issue of immigration reform to the streets in New York on Monday, focusing on the impact of immigration policies on families.

    Organizers arranged a human chain at 12:16 p.m. to symbolize Dec. 16, 2005, the day a controversial bill passed the House that would make illegal immigrants felons and wall off about a third of the U.S.-Mexico border.

    Some 12,000 people turned out to form eight chains: five in Manhattan, one in Queens, one in Brooklyn and one in the Bronx, according to the New York Immigration Coalition.

    Participants then marched from Union Square Park in lower Manhattan to the city's Federal Plaza, a mile away.

    Under the title of "American Family Tree," the rally was to highlight the effect of immigration policies on families, calling on Congress to take action in immigration reform soon.

    Other cities across the country, such as Chicago, Los Angeles, Washington, and Miami, also held similar events.

    Reform bills have stalled in Congress, primarily because Republicans and Democrats can not agree what should be done about the estimated 11 million illegal immigrants in the country.

    The Senate is considering a proposal that would allow illegal immigrants to obtain legal status, and eventually citizenship, by working for six years, paying a fine, undergoing a background check and learning English.

    Supporters of the idea call it "earned citizenship," but opponents denounce it as "amnesty."

    The House passed an immigration bill in December, taking a much tougher line. The House bill contains no mechanism for illegal immigrants to earn legal status, makes illegal immigration a felony and calls for building 700 miles of security fence along the U.S.-Mexico border.

    U.S. President George W. Bush has said he would like negotiators to include in the bill a guest-worker program that will allow immigrants into the country to fill jobs that Americans can't or won't do. But he has adamantly opposed "automatic amnesty" for illegal immigrants already in the country.