SALEM, Ore. (AP) - Carrying signs reading "Driving is a right, not a crime," a mostly Hispanic crowd of about 2,500 on Thursday protested a new driver's license law they say punishes immigrants and they also called for major changes in federal immigration and workplace laws.

The crowd at the annual event, held in front of the Capitol each May 1, was enthusiastic but somewhat subdued compared to recent rallies when major restrictive immigration bills were alive in Congress.

Speakers demanded rollback of a decree codified by the Legislature in February - Senate Bill 1080 - that requires applicants for driver's licenses to prove legal residence in the country.

Rep. Chip Shields, D-Portland, urged the crowd through an interpreter to support legislators who opposed the driver's license restrictions.

"Today I am here to help your cause," he said, getting cheers. "We all know that SB1080 was not about driver's licenses. It was about immigration."

He said the bill missed the target, and described many immigrants as economic refugees of globalization and regional trade pacts with Latin America that are harming Latin America's agricultural base.

A large banner displaying the Virgin of Guadeloupe, Mexico's patron saint, graced the Capitol steps. Dancers in Indian costumes performed amid swirls of smoke from copal, a traditional incense used in indigenous ceremonies in Mexico.

A few people carried signs protesting illegal immigration, but they faded away as the protest progressed.

The only tension arose when two young men displaying a Mexican flag stood in front of a large banner that read, "If you are in my country illegally you only have one right and that is to leave."

Several police stood near the banner to control the tension, and the two left soon after.

Several at the rally took the microphone to deliver brief messages.

"God is with us," yelled Mann Micas.

Ramon Ramirez, head of Oregon's farmworkers' union, said a recent voter registration drive in heavily Hispanic parts of Marion County targeted second-generation immigrants, citizens who were born here and, Ramirez said, are easier to mobilize than their parents have been.

Turnout is usually low among Hispanic voters.

"Today we march, tomorrow we vote," read several signs. 

(Copyright 2008 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.)