Tens of thousands of immigration reform supporters were drawn by a demonstration in Washington on Sunday who urged U. S. officials to update immigration law.

The Washington Post has reported that addressing the crowd on the National Mall, Rep. Luis Gutierrez, D-Ill., said the estimated 10.8 million immigrants in the United States illegally should be permitted "to come out of the shadows into the light and for America to embrace them and protect them" with a path to citizenship.

The White House and Congress were urged by Gutierrez to take action now on immigration reform.

Gutierrez said, "We've been patient long enough. We've listened quietly. We've asked politely. We've turned the other cheek so many times our heads are spinning."

The Washington Examiner further reported that addressing the demonstration by video feed, President Barack Obama repeated that he is committed to getting comprehensive immigration reform enacted.

The main organizer of the demonstration was Reform Immigration for America and Service Employees International Union, Midwest Organic and Sustainable Education Service, United Food and Commercial Workers International Union, Democracia Ahora and the Coalition for Human Immigrant Rights of Los Angeles took part in it.

Since Washington authorities do not provide crowd estimates, so there were no official estimates of the size of the crowds but The Examiner estimated the crowd at more than 200,000. (With Inputs from Agencies)