Wanting to keep immigration reform on the front burner, thousands of people flocked to the state Capitol on Tuesday to support federal legalization for the estimated 12 million undocumented immigrants living in the United States.

As organizers had predicted, this year's rally was not a replay of last year's huge turnout.

Salem police estimated the crowd at more than 4,000 people, a figure that exceeded what organizers had anticipated.

"We're very pleased with the turnout," said Aeryca Steinbauer, the coordinator of the Woodburn-based CAUSA, an immigrant-rights advocacy group.

Tuesday's demonstration brought together families, babies, children, students, elders, business owners, lawmakers and others who began arriving well in advance of the event's noon start.

"This is your Capitol," state Sen. Avel Gordly, I-Portland, a speaker at the rally, told the crowd, who responded with applause.

"Oregon works because immigrants work," she said. "We who believe in peace, and freedom and justice for all people cannot rest until we've achieved equal rights for everyone in this nation."

Rally-goers responded by waving American, Mexican, Honduran, Cuban and Salvadoran flags, chanting "Si se puede" in Spanish and then "We can do it," in English.

Evident at this year's rally was the large number of young people and students in the crowd.

Jovany Lopez, 18, an architecture major at Chemeketa Community College, said he wanted to raise his voice in support of equal rights for all people.

"It doesn't matter where people come from, if you're in this nation, you deserve to be treated like a human, not an animal," he said.

Cory Buckman, 14, a ninth-grader at North Salem High School, said he wanted to show support for all immigrants, legal or illegal.

"Especially people of color," said Buckman, whose ancestry is African.

Elmer Sevilla, 37, a native of Honduras who migrated to the United States five years ago, drove down in a caravan of 15 cars from Vancouver, Wash.

"We're here representing those who could not be here and those who weren't allowed to be here today," Sevilla said. "We're also here because this is a human-rights matter."

The rally lasted about 45 minutes. It was followed by a march around the Capitol grounds.

Just after the march began, a fist fight broke out between two boys participating in the rally. Police broke it up, but not before Laura Luna, the mother of one of the fighters, suffered an anxiety attack and passed out. An ambulance drove her from the scene.

"They're young kids," said Salem police Chief Jerry Moore. "They got caught up in the moment, that's all."

The rally was not without counter-protesters, who stood along the edges of the crowd and decried the presence of illegal immigrants in the United States.

MJ Kesterson of Independence, who along with her husband, Clay, led a project that created the Afghan-Iraqi Freedom Memorial in Salem, repeatedly chanted "Go home, come back legal," and "Go home, go home, go home" while the crowd was observing a moment of silence.

Salem resident Bill McMichael, who stood waving a "No illegals!" sign, said he was embarrassed that more people weren't willing to stand up against illegal immigration.

At one point, McMichael stood above the crowd, near the Capitol steps, and shouted, "Illegals go home!" A group of teenagers responded by chanting, "Men-tal! Men-tal!"

North Salem High School student Justin Mitchell, 15, wandered through the crowd wearing a green "Border Patrol" T-shirt and waving a sign that said "Be Legal or Be Gone," on one side and "No Illegal, No Welfare, No Problem," on the other side.

"I'm here to fight against illegal immigrants so we can, hopefully, get rid of them," Mitchell said. "There's more Hispanics in Salem than Caucasians, and the problem is they're speaking Spanish and I don't know what they're saying about me."

After the rally, teams of immigrants and advocacy-rights groups headed into the Capitol to call on lawmakers and ask them to consider preserving access to a driver's license for all Oregon drivers, including legal and illegal immigrants.

"We think that it's in the interest of public safety for all Oregonians to have licensed, insured drivers on the road," Steinbauer said.

Their request comes a day after the House Transportation Committee passed House Bill 2827 and House Joint Memorial 11. Both measures relate to the federal Real ID Act of 2005, which would require proof of citizenship for all drivers applying for or renewing their driver's license. The two bills, which were heavily amended in committee, next go to the Ways and Means Committee.

Last week, the Senate Business, Transportation and Workforce Development Committee gutted a similar measure, sending the revamped bill to the Senate floor.