Thousands of people paraded through downtown Dallas to support immigrants' rights Sunday afternoon.

The turnout was far smaller but more diverse than the crowd that gathered 11 years ago at the first Mega March for immigration reform.

Protesters walked across downtown, from the Cathedral Shrine of the Virgin of Guadalupe to City Hall Plaza. There, speakers addressed an audience police estimated at 3,200.

No arrests were reported.

Protesters were asked to bring American flags and wear red, white and blue "because this is really about America's values," said attorney Domingo Garcia, one of the event's organizers.

In 2006, an immigration rally downtown drew 350,000 to 500,000 marchers, according to some estimates. That year even the organizers were stunned by how many families attended.

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Dallas ISD teacher Esseiny Alanis, a Mexican immigrant, stood with fourth-graders Sanjuanita Rodriguez and Maritza Monroy.

"Every child deserves a right to go to school without fear of losing a parent," Alanis said. "My children are the future of the world."

Ten-year-old Sanjuanita said she came because of her parents, who are Mexican immigrants.

"I'm here for the family, for rights and for justice," she said.

Marian Herrera of Dallas came to the march with several relatives, including her 87-year-old grandmother and her 5-year-old son, Aidan.

The boy came home from school one day and asked: "Mommy, will I have to go back to Mexico?"

He is American by birth. His mother is a naturalized U.S. citizen who was born in Mexico.

Aidan told Herrera he had heard in his pre-kindergarten class that people from Mexico had to leave.

"We're from here," Herrera said. "This is home."

She said she told Aidan the march was about loving everyone. Then she explained it to him in terms he could understand.

"Remember the Trolls movie?" she recalled tellng him. "No troll gets left behind."

Herrera's grandmother, Maria Galicia, is too old to walk on her own, but she insisted on going to the march.

A relative pushed her along Ross Avenue in a wheelchair as she smiled and waved an American flag.

87-yr-old Maria Galicia is from Mexico. "Are you sure you want to go?" her granddaughter asked. "Yes!" Maria said #megamarch2017 pic.twitter.com/e2JmsAuWE7 — Julieta Chiquillo (@jmchiquillo) April 9, 2017

Erica Wolff, 37, came from Irving to march with her 12-year-old daughter, Nailah Ounzar. Both are Muslim.

"As a child of immigrants, it's hard for us to travel," Nailah said. "We use to travel a lot -- Europe, China. But now my mom is worried."

Coppell High students, friends Naureen Wajahat & Aparna Bejoy. Both 17, "too young to vote." This is their 1st protest #megamarch2017 pic.twitter.com/WmjppBpidx — Julieta Chiquillo (@jmchiquillo) April 9, 2017

The march was a milestone for Naureen Wajahat and Aparna Bejoy, who are friends and students at Coppell High School. It was their first protest.

Their parents moved to the U.S. from India. The girls oppose President Donald Trump's travel ban, but they're only 17 -- "too young to vote," Wajahat said.

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Armed men have lined up outside her Irving mosque in recent years to protest her faith. But she said she felt better when she saw the other strangers who showed up -- the people who said they support Muslims.

On Sunday, Naureen and Aparna said they felt hopeful as they watched their fellow marcher.

"It really opened our eyes," Wajahat said.

1 / 21Demonstrators rally outside city hall at the end of the 2017 Dallas Mega March on Sunday, April 9, 2017. Thousands of people marched through downtown Sunday afternoon to support immigrants' rights. ((Smiley N. Pool / Staff Photographer)) 2 / 21The Reyes family heads down Ross Avenue during the Mega March, which started at the Cathedral Shrine of Our Lady Guadalupe in downtown Dallas, photographed on Sunday, April 9, 2017. (Louis DeLuca/The Dallas Morning News)(Louis DeLuca / Staff Photographer) 3 / 21Christopher Rodriguez of Oak Cliff helps hold a large flag as he and others get ready for the Mega March, which started at the Cathedral Shrine of Our Lady Guadalupe in downtown Dallas, photographed on Sunday, April 9, 2017. (Louis DeLuca/The Dallas Morning News)(Louis DeLuca / Staff Photographer) 4 / 21The Arellano family heads down Ross Avenue during the Mega March, which started at the Cathedral Shrine of Our Lady Guadalupe in downtown Dallas, photographed on Sunday, April 9, 2017. (Louis DeLuca/The Dallas Morning News)(Louis DeLuca / Staff Photographer) 5 / 21Youngsters help hold a large flag before the Mega March, which started at the Cathedral Shrine of Our Lady Guadalupe in downtown Dallas, photographed on Sunday, April 9, 2017. (Louis DeLuca/The Dallas Morning News)(Louis DeLuca / Staff Photographer) 6 / 21Casa Gaytan, left, debates with Trump supporters Rocky C Beaudreau, during the Dallas Mega March on Sunday, April 9, 2017 in downtown Dallas. ((Irwin Thompson / Staff Photographer)) 7 / 21(From left to right) Julio, Brisa, Israel and Julio Arellano of Dallas walk up Ross ave before the start of Mega March in Dallas on Sunday, April 9, 2017. ((Vernon Bryant / Staff photographer)) 8 / 21People begin to fill up the area in front of the stage in front of Dallas City Hall during Mega March in Dallas on Sunday, April 9, 2017. ((Vernon Bryant / Staff photographer)) 9 / 21Trump supporter Dustin Marvin of Dallas posts up across the street as people march towards Dallas City Hall during the Mega March in Dallas on Sunday, April 9, 2017. (Vernon Bryant/The Dallas Morning News)(Vernon Bryant / Staff Photographer) 10 / 21Fouzia Al-Amoodi, of Irving, Texas, takes a picture during the Dallas Mega March on Sunday, April 9, 2017 on Ross Ave in downtown Dallas.((Irwin Thompson / The Dallas Morning News)) 11 / 21Demonstrators fill Ross Avenue during the 2017 Dallas Mega March on Sunday, April 9, 2017. Thousands of people marched through downtown Sunday afternoon to support immigrants' rights.((Smiley N. Pool / Staff Photographer)) 12 / 21Youngsters sit under a large flag for side on the Dallas City Hall Plaza after the Mega March, which started at the Cathedral Shrine of Our Lady Guadalupe in downtown Dallas, photographed on Sunday, April 9, 2017. ((Louis DeLuca / Staff Photographer)) 13 / 21A man with the Guardian Angels safety patrol pulls Casa Gaytan, left, as he argued with a President Trump supporter during the Mega March for immigration rights in downtown Dallas, Sunday, April 9, 2017. ((Ben Torres / Special Contributor)) 14 / 21Dallas County Judge Clay Jenkins signs a poster during the Mega March, which started at the Cathedral Shrine of Our Lady Guadalupe in downtown Dallas, photographed on Sunday, April 9, 2017. ((Louis DeLuca / Staff Photographer)) 15 / 21Bhavik Patel lends his voice to the gathering at City Hall plaza after the Mega March, which started at the Cathedral Shrine of Our Lady Guadalupe in downtown Dallas, photographed on Sunday, April 9, 2017. ((Louis DeLuca / Staff Photographer)) 16 / 21Courtney Dean and Karily Garcia lend their voices to the proceedings at the Dallas City Hall plaza after the Mega March, which started at the Cathedral Shrine of Our Lady Guadalupe in downtown Dallas, photographed on Sunday, April 9, 2017. ((Louis DeLuca / Staff Photographer)) 17 / 21Martin Luther King III speaks to the crowd during Mega March in front of Dallas City Hall in Dallas on Sunday, April 9, 2017. (Vernon Bryant/The Dallas Morning News)(Vernon Bryant / Staff Photographer) 18 / 21Ernesto Lazarraga walks on the Dallas City Hall Plaza after participating in the Mega March, which started at the Cathedral Shrine of Our Lady Guadalupe in downtown Dallas, photographed on Sunday, April 9, 2017. ((Louis DeLuca / Staff Photographer)) 19 / 21Rep. Joaquin Castro and U.S. Rep. Beto O'Rourke wave to the crowd during Mega March in front of Dallas City Hall in Dallas on Sunday, April 9, 2017. (Vernon Bryant/The Dallas Morning News)(Vernon Bryant / Staff Photographer) 20 / 21The crowd at City Hall Plaza is reflected in the windows of the building after the Mega March, which started at the Cathedral Shrine of Our Lady Guadalupe in downtown Dallas, photographed on Sunday, April 9, 2017. (Louis DeLuca/The Dallas Morning News)(Louis DeLuca / Staff Photographer) 21 / 21People make their way towards Dallas City Hall as Dallas Police keep watch at the intersection of Griffin and Young Street during Mega March in Dallas on Sunday, April 9, 2017. (Vernon Bryant/The Dallas Morning News)(Vernon Bryant / Staff Photographer)

Dallas police, some wearing protective vests, patrolled on bike, horse and foot. Police along the route posed for photos with participants and helped children walk across the DART tracks near Griffin Street and Pacific Avenue.

Observers from the American Civil Liberties Union were on hand to watch how officers handled the protesters.

Counter-demonstrators gathered near the end of the route with American and Trump flags blowing in the strong wind.

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“We give them everything, more than we give our veterans,” Dallas resident Eddie Ellis said of immigrants. “They need to go back and solve their own problems.”

Dallas resident Dustin Marvin waved his Trump flag, which he usually keeps in his house.

"I used to be homeless and I had to help myself, and they have to help their own selves," Marvin said. "If they don't like Trump, they should leave."

Adam & Gregorio Madrid"There are bikers who say they are against illegal aliens. Well we are bikers in support of immigrants" #megamarch2017 pic.twitter.com/cNKIwmV7Bz — Julieta Chiquillo (@jmchiquillo) April 9, 2017

The marchers wound their way through downtown before gathering about 3 p.m. in front of Dallas City Hall in red, white and blue shirts, caps and hijabs.

A band on stage played the "The Star-Spangled Banner," and the audience responded with chants of “U-S-A.”

Several community leaders and invited guests spoke at the Mega March, including human rights activist Martin Luther King III and Congressmen Joaquin Castro and Beto O'Rourke.

They pleaded for unity and respect for all immigrants and called on people to vote to support their cause.

"We come here today to march against a national agenda that would turn back the clock on our nation’s great tradition of values, particularly toward the poor, toward our children and especially today toward our immigrants, people who come to our shore seeking a better life," King said.

He encouraged people to march not only in protests but "to the ballot box."

"Immigrants are not political piñatas" said Attorney Domingo Garcia calling for Washington to adopt immigration reform #dallasmegamarch2017 pic.twitter.com/sU1rEkDj6x — Karina Ramírez (@KarinaFRamirez) April 9, 2017

O’Rourke, who plans to run against Texas Republican Sen. Ted Cruz in 2018, said he wants legislators to focus on helping immigrants.

“Do you want to wait until 2020 to start working on immigration reform? Do you want to wait until 2020 for each of us to be treated equally?” he asked.

Castro, a Democratic U.S. House member from San Antonio, said his grandmother, who was born in Coahuila, Mexico, remembered seeing businesses in Texas with “No dogs or Mexicans allowed” signs.

“In every generation there has been an immigrant in this country who has been disrespected, who has been challenged and tried,” Castro said. “In every generation there have been politicians who have tried to divide Americans and turned them against each other, who have tried to turn the people against immigrants. ... But in every generation there have been ... people like yourself who have stood up and have said, 'No, that’s enough, we have to treat people with respect.' ”

Staff writers Julieta Chiquillo, Eline de Bruijn, Elvia Limon, Karina Ramirez and Dianne Solis contributed to this report.