Protesters call for halt of deportations, march on cities across U.S.

On Saturday, immigration activists gathered in about 60 cities and in front of the White House in Washington, D.C. to call for the halt of deportations.

The activists labelled the protests "Two Million Two Many" and called for President Barack Obama to step in and stop the record number of deportations, reports The Wall Street Journal. The demonstrations have been so named because many believe that around this day, the current administration will have kicked about two million people out of the country.

United We Dream head Lorella Praeli said, "There is another branch of government-the executive-that has wide authority to do more in the absence of immigration reform." Few believe there will be any forward movement on reform from Congress this year, with the Republican party split on which way to go.

Protesters say they will keep up an "indefinite presence" at the White House in an effort to get the Obama administration to use executive powers to help slow deportations, which the activists say is pulling families apart.

"We are bringing the human suffering to the doorstep," Marisa Franco said, according to NBC News. She is involved with the National Day Labor Organizing Network campaign called Ni Una Mas Deportacion (Not One More Deportation).

NBC notes that turnout on Saturday was lower than a march held back in 2006, which was put together after an immigration bill was passed that was viewed by some as too harsh.