NORTH COUNTY -- More than 1,700 students took to the streets Tuesday, as a second day of protests over proposed federal immigration laws swept through North County.

From Escondido and San Marcos to Encinitas and Oceanside, protesters waved flags, walked miles and chanted slogans to decry congressional attempts to toughen laws targeting illegal immigrants.

Authorities said the demonstrations were mostly peaceful, with just three arrests, all in Vista. That brings the total number of people arrested in North County protests during the last two days to at least 29.

Some of the largest protests were in Vista -- where hundreds of students marched across town as watchful sheriff's deputies trailed them -- and in San Marcos, where throngs gathered at Cal State San Marcos, including hundreds who had walked miles from downtown Escondido.

School officials reported higher rates of absenteeism and said the walkouts could cost school districts thousands of dollars in state funding that is based on student attendance.

A few North County campuses were briefly "locked down" to prevent students from leaving classrooms as protesters passed by and encouraged people to join them.

While some protesters said more demonstrations were likely in the coming days, educators and law enforcement officials said they hoped that rain in the forecast would convince more students to return to school.

Escondido, San Marcos unite

About 600 protesters in Escondido and San Marcos joined forces Tuesday, as about 400 Escondido demonstrators marched west all morning along West Mission Avenue to meet up with about 200 San Marcos students.

The marches were mostly peaceful and the Escondido protest was calmer than the one Monday, when several students clashed with police officers in Escondido and two dozen people were arrested. No protesters were arrested Tuesday in Escondido or San Marcos, authorities said.

Unlike Monday's rally in Escondido, some parents and community activists were on hand Tuesday to guide the mostly young demonstrators and ensure their safety as they walked along busy roadways. This time around, there also were many more Escondido middle school students, which school officials said created a noticeable absence at the campuses.

But many of the protesting students, and some parents, seemed indifferent to missing class and the thousands of dollars school districts could lose for having low attendance rates even for one or two days.

And many students said more school walkouts and rallies are likely in the coming week.

"If it has to (be), we are going to be here tomorrow and the next day and the next," said Diego Olea, 18, a senior at Orange Glen High School.

Olea said he thought most of the student protesters were legal residents or U.S. citizens, but were motivated by concerns that the legislation could hurt their families.

"All of these kids aren't going to be affected, but most of their parents will," Olea said.

A little guidance

After Monday's events, in which 21 minors and three adults were arrested and physical confrontations occurred in Escondido, parents and activist leaders decided to join in Tuesday's demonstration.

Mario Moreno, of the North County-based Coalition of Justice, Peace and Dignity, was one of several adults and high school students who led the Escondido group to San Marcos, keeping protesters on the sidewalks and moving in a safe, orderly fashion.

But, Moreno and other adults said they hadn't planned the event, they only joined it.

"They organized themselves," Moreno said. "We're just here in support and solidarity with them, to try to direct them and mediate between them and the police."

Several Escondido students who said they had helped organize Tuesday's rally, said they had used the Web site myspace.com to coordinate with the San Marcos students. This was the same site used by many students to implement Monday's demonstration, students have said.

A few Escondido residents who didn't have school-age children, but said they were illegal immigrants, marched with the students. Several carried small children or pushed strollers.

Enrique Alvarez, a graphic artist from San Marcos, said he decided to participate in Tuesday's rally to support the cause with his 15-year-old son, Armando Rojo, a student at Mission Hills High School.

Alvarez said that by missing school, the students were drawing attention to their cause and learning to stand up for their rights.

"Parents know any day off school for kids means they aren't learning," he said. "But hopefully it will be balanced out with what they learn here."

Missing school

Most students said they were willing to accept the consequences of missing classes because they believed in their message.

"I've learned when a lot of people get together they can make change," Ana Andrade, a 16-year-old Mission Hills student, said. "I'm worried about getting behind while missing school, but I know it's for a good cause."

Although mostly high school students attended Monday's rally in Escondido, many younger students, especially those from Hidden Valley Middle School, joined the demonstration Tuesday.

Escondido Union School District Superintendent Mike Caston estimated that about 30 percent of the district's approximately 6,170 middle school students were absent Tuesday. Normally, only about 10 percent are absent most days, Caston said.

Caston said students from Orange Glen High had passed by Hidden Valley during their march early Tuesday and encouraged about 75 to 100 middle school students to join them before classes had started.

The district locked down all five middle school campuses during the rest of the day.

While most students seemed dedicated to their cause, a few admitted they had joined the demonstration in part just to leave school. One middle school student said he was there "just to ditch."

Mostly peaceful protests

Before the long line of Escondido protesters headed toward San Marcos, it snaked around Grape Day Park in downtown Escondido, the site of Monday's conflicts.

During the long march out of Escondido to San Marcos, San Diego County Sheriff's Department deputies paralleled the protesters with lights flashing, forcing traffic to distance itself from the students and reminding the protesters to stay on the sidewalk.

A few scuffles and shoving matches occurred among the teenage activists during the four-hour walk, but the group heard mostly honks of support from passing cars, several of which passed with Mexican flags flying. A few motorists shouted obscenities.

"Anything that complicates traffic in San Marcos is a problem," said Capt. Tom Bennett of the sheriff's station in San Marcos. "Motorists get annoyed whenever their routine is different."

He said there were 10 patrol cars out and more than 70 deputies were on stand-by in the city.

After the students arrived at Cal State San Marcos amid chants of "Mexico" and "U.S.A.," clapping and cheering, student and activist leaders such as Moreno spoke to the students, encouraging them to be united but peaceful in their demonstrations.

After the rally had finished, Arcela Nunez-Alvarez, the associate director of the National Latino Research Center at Cal State San Marcos, said the students needed more leadership in their demonstrations.

"The parents need to get together and find a way to get the kids back in school," Nunez-Alvarez said. "If the kids don't have a clear strategy of what they want, this could go on forever."

A long walk and no buses

The lack of leadership became evident at the end of the event around 2 p.m., when many Escondido students seemed at a loss for how they would get back home.

While the San Marcos students could easily walk home, the Escondido students seemed reluctant to retrace their four-hour walk. Some apparently expected that buses would be waiting for them at the end of the march.

On Monday, Escondido Union High School District officials sent school buses to Grape Day Park to return students to class when they had finished their rally.

Moreno, the activist leader, collected money from students to buy food and water for them, and said the remaining money could be used for bus fare.

However, when Moreno didn't return quickly, many students began dispersing. Some began walking, while others got rides with friends or supporters of the protesters who had driven to the rally at Cal State San Marcos.

Moreno eventually returned with fruit, snacks and water for the students, who snapped up the food before heading toward a bus stop.

More marches in Vista

While 600 students gathered in San Marcos, more than 1,000 demonstrated in other parts of North County.

In Vista, about 500 student protesters waved Mexican flags and chanted "Mexico" and "Yes we can" in Spanish as they walked for hours along an eight-mile route between Vista and Rancho Buena Vista high schools, and Guajome Park Academy.

"We're just doing this primarily because we're trying to let people know that our race isn't going to be easily suppressed," said Luis Colmemares, a senior at Vista High who was part of the protest.

A total of 17 sheriff's deputies followed the protesters through the city for much of the day, making three arrests as hundreds of students -- many from Vista High -- rallied in the morning in front of Rancho Buena Vista, authorities said.

Both high schools were temporarily locked down when the protest neared their campuses, officials said.

The protests didn't have much of an effect on the school day itself, though it could cost the district thousands of dollars in lost average daily attendance money, said interim Superintendent Darrel Taylor.

The long march undertaken by the students was a change from Monday, when Rancho Buena Vista Principal Richard Alderson persuaded students not to leave the campus but to join an assembly in the school stadium to discuss the immigration issue. About 600 went to the assembly, while another 100 opted to leave the campus and form a protest march.

Oceanside students trek 8 miles … and back

Though both of Oceanside's two regular high schools had little involvement in Monday's first round of student protests, both schools made up for lost time Tuesday.

Between 300 and 400 students from El Camino and Oceanside high schools marched through the city to the Oceanside Band Shell next to the city's pier.

Along the eight-mile route, the Oceanside Police Department kept pace with the cheering marchers, blocking side streets and holding up vehicles to protect the protesters.

Claudia Tecontero, a 10th-grader from El Camino High, stood among the crowd, screaming along with hundreds of her classmates. She said the protest's purpose was to let people know that Latinos are good people who just want to work and be educated.

"We are not here to take nothing from no one," she said. "We're not terrorists. We just want to stay here and be educated."

While Oceanside's protest was largely peaceful, there were a few reports of vandalism as the marchers moved through downtown.

Richard B. Vogenitz, 84, said he and a 90-year-old companion were driving on Mission Avenue after a visit to the beach when his car was pelted with rocks by protesters from Oceanside High School. He said protesters yelled obscenities at them, and seemed to target his car because it had an American flag in the window.

"I don't get frightened easily, but (we were)," Vogenitz said.

Principals for both high schools said students who participated in Tuesday's march would be considered truant and would in all likelihood have to serve a four-hour Saturday school as punishment.

Other marches

About 100 high school-aged children and some adults marched from Fallbrook Union High School north along Main Street to the community center, sheriff's Sgt. Rich Hendrickson said Tuesday.

A group of more than 200 held a similar march in downtown Fallbrook on Monday night.

In Encinitas, nearly 100 teens from San Dieguito Academy and La Costa Canyon high schools skipped school to assemble at the city's busiest intersection to wave Mexican and U.S. flags and hoist protest signs.

"Some of our parents are illegal immigrants," said Martin Diaz, 17, a San Dieguito Academy senior.

La Costa Canyon student Jessica Cortez, 17, said that Tuesday's rally was her first and that her mother had called the school to excuse her from class.

"My mom knows and is proud," Jessica said. "She knows (missing school) is wrong, but it comes from the heart."

Staff writers David Sterrett, Melanie Marshall, Brenda Duran, Stacy Brandt, Scott Marshall, Paul Sisson, Chris Tribbey, Lorell Fleming and Adam Kaye contributed to this story.