SAN DIEGO -- As House Republicans held hearings to promote a proposed immigration crackdown, activists for immigrants' rights gathered in a separate meeting Wednesday to call for more comprehensive reforms.

In a presentation called "The True Economic Impact of Undocumented Workers," four speakers representing commercial, civic and governmental organizations called the hearings held by the House Republicans at the Marine Corps Depot in San Diego on Wednesday "publicity stunts."

"These are sham hearings meant to inflame the argument over immigration reform," said Melissa Daar, director for People for the American Way, who moderated the panel that met at the Courtyard Marriott in Old Town.

The congressional hearing was the second of three planned in the San Diego area by GOP members of Congress, who are trying to drum up support for a bill that would tighten immigration restrictions and make it a felony to live and work in the U.S. illegally.

Immigrant rights activists who oppose the House bill called a press conference in Old Town in response to the hearing, which was held at the Marine Corps Recruit Depot downtown.

The panelists at the Marriott said they wanted to highlight the economic contributions of undocumented workers and to support a Senate immigration bill that would create a guest worker program and help legalize millions of illegal immigrants.

The four panelists who spoke at the counter-event included Dolores Huerta, co-founder of the United Farm Workers; David Rodriguez, national vice president of the Far West region of the League of United Latino American Citizens or LULAC; state Sen. Denise Ducheny, D-San Diego, and Cesar Aguilera, who owns a construction company San Diego.

Ducheny said undocumented workers in agriculture and other labor industries need to have easier access to citizenship because they contribute millions of dollars each year to the U.S. economy.

"They never want to talk about what people are contributing to the economy," said Ducheny, referring to those participating in the House hearings. "These people are an important part of the economy; to not recognize that is to put on blinders."

At the House hearings, panelists argued illegal immigration costs taxpayers $1 billion each year in services in Los Angeles alone.

But undocumented workers contribute to the economy, too, said construction company owner Cesar Aguilera. The removal of undocumented workers would harm the construction industry by hiking prices by 25 percent and would slow down one of the most profitable businesses in the country, he said.

Huerta said she believes the heated debate on immigration is a way for politicians to distract the public from the war in Iraq and to boost the private prison industrial complex. She also called the attempts to pass the more rigid version of the House bill, which would have made felons of more than 11 million undocumented workers, a way for politicians to start an "ethnic cleansing."

Supporters of the bill, including local Congressmen Brian Bilbray, R-Carlsbad and Darrell Issa, R-Temecula, have said the proposed crackdown would help stem the costs of illegal immigration and that allowing undocumented workers to become legal would reward those who have broken U.S. immigration laws.

Panelist Rodriguez said the latest hearings not only have created an "anti-immigrant sentiment" in the country but have also unfairly targeted Latinos.

"The Statue of Liberty says, give me your hungry and poor, but not if you are Latino," said Rodriguez. "Our economy needs these people. … Without them, a lot of industries would fall apart."

Contact staff writer Brenda Duran at (760) 761-4408 or bduran@californian.com. To comment on this article, go to californian.com.