About 200 people gathered on the steps of the state capitol Thursday to protest immigration raids and deportations.

The rally, organized by the Georgia Latino Alliance for Human Rights, called for comprehensive immigration reform and an end to the kinds of deportation agreements in effect in Cobb County's jail. From July through March, Cobb sheriff's deputies have worked with federal agents to identity and process 1,632 people for deportation.

Georgia protesters called for human rights for workers everywhere.

The rally was timed for May 1st, which is Labor Day in many countries outside the U.S., including Mexico. It coincided with rallies in cities across the country where thousands of immigrants and activists gathered Thursday to demand comprehensive immigration reform, including citizenship opportunities for the estimated 12 million illegal immigrants in the U.S.

Turnout appeared to be down since the first nationwide rallies in 2006, when more than 1 million people rallied, including about 40,000 in Atlanta who marched on Buford Highway and gathered at Plaza Fiesta in April, 2006.

On Thursday, Jose Ramirez, 25, came to the rally at the capitol with his wife and one-year-old son. The Mexican immigrant has lived and worked in the United States for 10 years with no papers.

The deportation program in Cobb County worried him enough that he moved to Gwinnett County about three months ago.

"We don't feel comfortable going out as much as we used to ever since they started that new law in Cobb," said Ramirez' wife, Reina, 25.