LOS ANGELES, March 29 (Xinhua) -- After two days of student protests over federal immigration legislation, law enforcement officials here plan to tighten punitive measures on students who leave campus Wednesday by issuing truancy citations.

    Some 8,000 students either skipped school or walked off campus in the Los Angeles Unified School District Tuesday, despite lockdowns and rainy weather.

    That walkout followed a larger protest on Monday that involved an estimated 36,000 students from across the Los Angeles area, police said.

    School and city officials said at a news conference late Tuesday that they would take a hard line with students who try to walk off campuses again.

    Students who leave campus Wednesday would be automatically considered truant, and could face discipline ranging from suspension to exclusion from certain school-sponsored functions, they said.

    Meanwhile, police officers will also issue citations to truant students, who then could face fines of up to 200 dollars and 20 days of community service, according to Los Angeles police chief William Bratton.

    "Our first priority is to keep our kids safe, that they need to be back in school," Los Angeles Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa said. "And it's important for parents to understand that beginning today we will be strictly applying our truancy laws."

    The students have been marching in opposition to a House bill cracking down on illegal immigration by making it a federal offense to enter or remain in the United States illegally. The U.S. Senate is debating immigration legislation this week.

    Three students were arrested outside a high school Tuesday after clashing with police officers, local media reports said.

    The bill would require employers to verify Social Security numbers with the Department of Homeland Security, increase penalties for immigrant smuggling and stiffen penalties for undocumented immigrants who re-enter the country after having been removed.

    Under the bill, which was approved last December by the House of Representatives, local law enforcement agencies would be reimbursed for detaining illegal immigrants.

    The U.S. Senate's Judiciary Committee softened the immigration reform bill Monday by voting to create a path for some of the nation's estimated 12 million illegal immigrants to become citizens without first leaving the country.

    Under the version voted on by the committee, additional foreign workers would be allowed to enter the United States temporarily under a program that also could lead to citizenship. Enditem