The demonstrators denounced the refusal of the authorities to grant them refugee status, as well as holding several hundred in detention centres.
They marched, some holding candles and others placards bearing the slogan "We are refugees", to cries of "Freedom!"
Israeli human rights activists also joined the march from a southern neighbourhood to Yitzhak Rabin Square where they gathered outside the municipality.
Under legislation passed on December 10, illegal immigrants entering Israel can be held for up to a year without trial.
It was the latest in a series of measures aimed at cracking down on close to 60,000 illegal immigrants from Africa, whom Israel says pose a threat to the state's Jewish character.
The construction of a high-tech fence along the border with Egypt was recently completed.
The new law amends earlier legislation which allowed for immigrants to be held for up to three years without trial, but which was overturned by the Supreme Court in September.
The Association for Civil Rights in Israel (ACRI) and other groups have already filed a petition against the new law. (AFP, Jerusalem).
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