One rally served two very different purposes Saturday for Utah Latinos.

The "Dignity Rally" at Salt Lake City's Centro Civico Mexicano,155 S. 600 West, was a show of solidarity for the 500 or so who attended. They carried signs in support of national immigration reform and chanted "¡S í se puede!" or "Yes we can!"

But the two-hour event was also an opportunity to vent about a new Arizona law intended to drive undocumented immigrants out of the country.

"The law doesn't respect us," said veteran Latino activist Archie Archuleta. "It steps on us like we are garbage."

The gathering was one of about 70 May Day rallies and marches that took place across the country Saturday as part of the National Day of Action for Latinos, said Tony Yapias, who organized the Utah event.

"The federal government has addressed health care reform and financial reform. Now we want comprehensive immigration reform," he said, adding that "the passage of the Arizona law has just intensified things."

The Arizona law, now the nation's toughest addressing illegal immigration, makes it a state crime to be in the country illegally. It allows police to question people who they suspect are not citizens about their status and to ask to see documents. Critics claim the law will lead to racial profiling and are calling for boycotts of the state.

Rep. Stephen Sandstrom, R-Orem, is drafting a similar law for Utah that would require immigrants to carry proof of document status and require law enforcement officers to question anyone without proper documentation. Sandstrom, who did not attend Saturday's rally, said he wants any such law passed in Utah to be clearer than Arizona's about how and when police can seek documents.

"We don't want people to feel like they are a target because of their national origin," he said during a telephone interview Saturday.

Sandstrom said he hopes to have the bill drafted by June and is open to suggestions from those on all sides.

"But I will not back down on those who want to operate in our state illegally," he said. "I disagree that it has anything to do with hate. People are turning the tables and saying these people who are here illegally and have committed crimes are now somehow the victims."

The proposal frustrates people like 67-year-old Jose Trinidad Perez, who immigrated to the United State more than 27 years ago.

"Instead of helping," he said, "it is tearing the country apart."

The Rev. John C. Wester, bishop of Salt Lake City's Roman Catholic Diocese, said at the rally he is often asked why the Catholic Church is involved in a political issue like immigration.

"Because it is a moral issue and a human issue," Wester said. "It's not about human beings breaking the law, but the law breaking human beings."

Prissila Zapata also spoke in favor of immigration reform, especially for those who came to the United States as young children and call America home.

Zapata said she came to the U.S. with her mother illegally when she was 4. She earned top grades in her public high school but was unable to get federal loans to help her attend college.

Now 26, she is married and the mother of two children.

"It makes me sad," she said. "I love my Hispanic culture, but I feel like I'm an American."