Immigration Activists Rally at Minnesota Capitol

ST. PAUL  (AP) - A coalition of groups advocating changes to state and federal immigration laws are rallying at Minnesota's Capitol on the same day the state Senate is scheduled to take up a bill long pursued by immigration activists.

Organizers say they expect about 2,000 people to march from a St. Paul church to the Capitol lawn on Wednesday afternoon. Similar May Day rallies are being held around the country even as Congress debates a federal immigration bill.

The bill up in the Senate Wednesday would extend in-state public college tuition rates to children of people who are in the country illegally. Backers have sought the change in law for nearly a decade but may be in line to finally accomplish it this year with Democrats fully in control of the Legislature.