The national day of action immigrants staged nationwide on May first had varying degrees of success. Depending on what part of the country you live in, your neighborhood may have witnessed marches on the state capitol other communities saw local businesses close either to express support for the cause, or because their workers didn't show up that day. Organizers and immigrant advocacy groups say the day of action helped build up their political clout on the grassroots level and on Capitol Hill. But critics say the boycott will make it harder for undocumented immigrants to demand an easier path to citizenship. From Washington, Lakshmi Singh reports. (3:43)

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Los Angeles served as an epicenter of organizing efforts for the day of protests, demonstrations and work stoppages. A half million people gathered for demonstrations that wound for miles down city streets. In the farm-rich Salinas Valley, ripe fruits and vegetables were left unpicked. And in San Jose, a planned march had to start an hour early when the gathering crowd approached 100 thousand -- way too large for the staging area. There were also lively protests and widespread boycotts in San Francisco. Nancy Mullane reports.

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Nationwide, it is estimated that one million people participated in one way or another in the May First Day of Action. However, at lest one coalition of immigrant rights groups in Washington was urging its members not to take part. Latino USA's Patricia Guadalupe reports..

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The effects of a call for a national boycott in the U.S. even reached far into Mexico. Activists blocked international crossing points on the Mexican side of the border. And all across Mexico, people avoided buying U.S. products or shopping in U.S. chain stores. From Mexico City, Franc Contreras has more..

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Since 1999, the Santa Fe, New Mexico City Council has prohibited local police from checking anyone's immigration status from the day laborers who congregate on the street corners, to drivers who are pulled over on traffic stops. In this immigrant friendly city, one business a luxury day spa with hot tubs and massage treatments turned the idea of a boycott on its head. Instead of closing its doors in protest, the Ten Thousand Waves spa stayed open for business but it wasn't business as usual. The owners reserved the luxurious hot tubs for the use of the spa's immigrant employees, turning this day of action into a day of immigrant appreciation and pampering. Leslie Clark sent us this postcard.

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Author Tom Miller comments on how organizers of the immigration protests are unknowingly asking to be treated like Cubans who manage to reach the U.S.

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