Thousands of immigrants are expected to take to the streets in several cities across the United States Tuesday, to demand fair treatment as President Bush continues to press for immigration reform.

Members of a bipartisan group of U.S. senators are pushing to reach agreement on immigration reform that would offer some illegal immigrants a chance to become citizens and the coming month will prove critical to their efforts

Refugee activists in Australia have demonstrated outside the immigration department in Sydney to mark the 35th day of a hunger strike by Chinese asylum seekers at the city's Villawood detention center. The followers of the Falun Gong movement have been refusing food since late March, to protest the deportation of asylum seekers to China. From Sydney, Phil Mercer reports.

President Bush has called on Congress to make new efforts at immigration reform. VOA's Brian Wagner reports that Mr. Bush made the call in a speech to college graduates in Miami. President Bush congratulated graduates and their families during the commencement ceremony at Miami Dade College.

European Union nations decided to set up rapid reaction terms to try and keep illegal immigrants from Africa. German Interior Minister Wolfgang Schaeuble, who chaired a meeting of justice and interior ministers, said they also backed plans for permanent joint patrols in late May in the Mediterranean and off Europe's and Africa's Atlantic coasts.

New research by political scientists concludes that available data does not appear to support the claim that Hispanic immigration poses a threat to American identity.