Crowds across the Triangle were among hundreds of thousands of people, most Hispanic, who marched nationwide Monday to protest a proposed crackdown on illegal immigration.

Many rallies across the country attracted more people, but the one in Chatham County drew a crowd about half the size of Siler City's population.

An estimated 3,000 people from across the Triangle attended, most of them wearing white shirts and waving U.S. flags. Speakers denounced legislation passed by the U.S. House that would build additional fencing between the United States and Mexico and make felons of people who enter the country illegally.

"We have been silent for too long," said Ilana Dubester, interim director of the Hispanic Liaison in Siler City, who addressed the crowd in English and Spanish.

Other, smaller rallies popped up across the Triangle on the National Day of Action for Immigrant Justice.

In Smithfield, more than 200 people marched to the Johnston County courthouse, chanting in Spanish that together they could not be conquered.

Reynaldo Martinez Cruz, a landscaper in Clayton, wore a white T-shirt with his message written in black marker as he marched along U.S. 301: "We just come to work. We are not criminals."

"America is where immigrants come to make a better life for their families," he said in halting English.

At UNC-Chapel Hill, about 100 people held signs in English and Spanish at a rally organized by the Carolina Hispanic Association.

Even Hispanic residents who are further removed from their immigrant pasts were roused into action by the House bill.

Criminalizing illegal immigration will create an unfair backlash against all Hispanics, said Beatriz Medina, 32, whose family has been in the United States since her grandmother moved to Texas from Mexico 60 years ago.

"It's not like you wear your green card or your Social Security number on your face," she said, a slight Southern accent slipping into her speech at times. "The whole community will feel it."

Rallies' effect unclear

Rumors of a large-scale walk-out by Hispanic workers did not come to fruition, though a handful of mostly Hispanic-owned businesses did close. In Siler City, one of two poultry processing plants had already planned to close at the time of the rally.

Immigrant advocates hope the rallies will boost efforts at change similar to provisions in a Senate bill discussed last week that would have provided a legal way for people to work and for some to move toward citizenship.

But many North Carolina lawmakers oppose allowing people here illegally to earn citizenship.

"As a nation, we have welcomed generations of legal immigrants over the course of our history -- immigrants who respect the law and contribute a great deal to our country," U.S. Sen. Richard Burr, a Republican, said in a statement Friday. "But ... those who have broken the law should not be rewarded with a clear path to citizenship."

John Hood, president of the John Locke Foundation, based in Raleigh, said it's possible the massive rallies could backfire. Though Hood said he thinks the country should work toward immigration reform, he said previous rallies have included scores of people waving Mexican flags, speaking Spanish and sometimes saying immigrants have a right to be in the United States. Among undecided U.S. voters, this message may turn people off, Hood said.

"What they are doing is emphasizing the extent to which immigrants are separate from the American community," he said.

Instead, the message should be, "We are breaking the law, we realize that, but it's a bad law," Hood said.

Opponents of illegal immigration said they doubt the public will be swayed regardless of which flags marchers wave.

"They broke the law, and now they're going out in the street to say they have rights," said Ron Woodard, president of the Cary-based immigration reform group N.C. Listen. "I don't think most people sense that's an appropriate thing to be doing."

It's unclear what effect the rallies will have in Congress.

U.S. Rep. David Price, a Chapel Hill Democrat who represents a swath of Chatham County, said he didn't expect any immigration reform bills to be passed this year.

He thinks that immigration reform is needed to increase security and enforcement at the border but that there must be more legal channels for people to work legitimately in the country.

"The betting is that the present, grossly inadequate policy will remain in place," he said.

Among the marchers, Onay Cruz was one of the lucky ones. The Veracruz, Mexico, native has a work permit for his job at Wendy's. "We want to be part of the U.S., too," said Cruz, dressed in a crisp white guayabera, a shirt he saves for special occasions.

On Sunday, he said, he wrote a check to the Internal Revenue Service for $2,165. Last year, it was about $7,000.

Paul Cuadros, a freelance reporter who also coaches a majority-Hispanic high school soccer team that won a state championship last year, also spoke to the crowd Monday. "Like a team, we will fight for our rights," he said.

Later in an interview he said his players are young, energetic and optimistic about the future despite most not being able to continue their studies. Most are working in the Siler City area.

Luis Lopez, one recent high school graduate, volunteered at the event. After graduating, he went to work at a local factory. He wore a sticker Monday that said, "I pay taxes."

"I really wish I could go back to school, but they're trying to charge me $3,600 a semester," he said.

Cruz said he now feels the United States is as much home as Veracruz, where he regularly returns.

"When I go back home here I get sad [because I've left Mexico]," he said. "When I leave here, I cry, too."

(Staff writer Meiling Arounnarath contributed to this report.)