![\"obama\"](\"http:\/\/i.dailymail.co.uk\/i\/pix\/2009\/04\/09\/article-1168809-0460BC11000005DC-463_233x423.jpg\")
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President Obama announced last week that he intended to take up the thorny issue of immigration reform this year, even as opponents argue that the recession is the wrong time to discuss citizenship for undocumented immigrants. Meanwhile, an Associated Press investigation found this week that some US citizens have been caught up in immigration detention and deportation proceedings. A total of 55 cases have been documented but the number could be much higher. In local immigration news, a lawsuit by the ACLU and National Immigration Law Center contends that immigrants have been held in overcrowded and unsafe conditions at a detention center in downtown Los Angeles. The facilities, designed to house people for only 12 hours at a time, were used for weeks at a time in many cases. Immigrants, both documented and undocumented, have filed a number of lawsuits over the last several years as a result of rights violations during the Bush years. As May 1st approaches, activists are gearing up for what has now become a traditional day to mark immigrants rights in the US. <\/p>\n