Stalled Bills Might Have Cut Mall Rally Crowd, Some Say

"Last time, I heard about the rally everywhere -- even on TV," said Rene Garcia, 22, a Mexican construction worker living in Falls Church who attended the demonstration Thursday. "For this rally, I didn't even hear about it on the radio. I don't know what happened."

Michael Ahn Paarlsberg, 26, a Korean American living in Fairfax, said there was little promotion in the Asian media, despite outreach efforts by organizers that yielded at least a few articles about the rally in Korean-language newspapers.

Rally organizers said they were satisfied with the turnout, which they estimated at 50,000.

Jaime Contreras, chairman of the National Capital Immigration Coalition, who organized the rally, said, "We're very proud of the people that came out despite the fact that [President] Bush's scare tactics of sending [immigration agents] to our neighborhoods has put some fear in people's minds."

Contreras said advocates have shifted their focus from rallies to voter registration drives and cautioned politicians not to conclude that the movement has lost steam just because its rallies are attracting fewer demonstrators.

"If they do, they're going to be sadly mistaken come election time," he said.

Staff writers Ernesto Londoño, Josh Partlow, Nick Miroff, Tom Jackman and Karin Brulliard contributed to this report.