RACINE - About 300 local students attended a brief rally Thursday morning at Monument Square before attending a march for immigration reform in Milwaukee.

"Let's demand respect for everybody in this community," Mayor Gary Becker said at the rally.

Carrying Mexican and American flags and waving signs with messages such as "I have rights, too," the high school students listened to speeches for about 15 minutes in the square before walking to seven buses waiting to take them to Milwaukee.

"Witnessing all the injustices, we must march, and we must keep on marching," Maria Morales, coordinator of the Racine chapter of the immigrant rights group Voces de la Frontera, said at the rally. "We must keep raising our voices until they hear us and they give us all liberty and justice."

The Milwaukee march, which had an estimated 30,000 participants, was one of several held nationwide Thursday. Among several issues, the march called for access to drivers' licenses, an end to immigration raids and an end to a Social Security "no match" rule that would require employees to fire workers unable to resolve discrepancies between their names and Social Security numbers.

Morales said her group is opposing the SAVE Act, which aims to reduce illegal immigration through enforcement methods such as employer sanctions and increased border security.

"It's going to criminalize innocent people who are just here to work," she said. "It's going to separate families; it's tearing the parents away from the kids."

Students from Horlick, Case and Park high schools were expected to attend the march. Racine Unified School District spokeswoman Stephanie Kratochvil-Hayden said students participating in the march needed for their parents to excuse them from school.

Although a few students said they attended the march just so they could get out of school, others interviewed said they thought the rally's message was important.

"We really want to make a change by getting together," said Karina Juarez, a sophomore at Park High School, 1901 12th St.

Lacy Salas, also a Park sophomore, said she was participating because she is half-Mexican, and because her grandparents lived through immigration troubles.

For some students, the issue hits home because their parents are illegal immigrants, organizers said.

"I think it's wonderful that these kids have come forward the way they have to support their parents," said Al Levie, a social studies teacher at Horlick High School, 2119 Rapids Drive, and adviser to Students United for Immigrant Rights.

Morales said the participants are seeking justice for everyone.

"We're American citizens, and we are raising our voices in support of the immigrants, who at this time don't have a voice," Morales said. "And we're going to keep on marching, we're going to keep on yelling, until these laws are changed."