WASHINGTON, March 27 (Xinhua) -- Tens of thousands of people took to the streets in the United States on Monday to protest a proposed immigration reform that would make illegal immigrants criminals.

    In Washington, D.C., over 1,000 protesters gathered at the Capitol, and about 4,000 turned out in Detroit, Michigan.

    The largest demonstration took place in California, where over 10,000 protesters, mostly Hispanic students, turned out in Los Angeles and San Francisco, following a massive demonstration last Saturday attended by some 500,000 people.

    The protested were targeting at an immigration bill that the House has passed and would make criminals all undocumented immigrants, estimated at 12 million, inside the country, and require all employers to verify the immigration status of their employees.

    At the Senate, the Judiciary Committee approved an immigration legislation on Monday that would create a guest worker program and refused a provision that would make humanitarian groups or individuals to help illegal immigrants criminals.

    The bill must be approved by the full Senate, and the two chambers of Congress must resolve their differences before a final version could be sent to the president for signing into law. Enditem