A group of faith and community leaders from across the country have embarked on the path of the immigrant. It is a 150 mile march from Porterfield state park to the Metropolitan detention Center in Los Angeles. They want to put a spotlight on the immigration policy that they called an adequate and antiquated. And they stand in solidarity with immigrants who have made similar tracks across the US border. Welcome know well. Thank you it's good to be with you. The march started Saturday morning where are you [ Indiscernible- Participant too far away from microphone ] right now we're just passed Mission Bay and heading towards LaToya. We will stay at a Presbyterian church. How many people are participating ? We have a little over 100 full-time walkers. But we anticipate all about the way people have people walking for a day at a time. So as we moved to downtown LA, we do not know how many people we will end up with. But we have invited we have talked to to come and join us. So far we have not had too many takers. But they are intrigued by seeing 100 people walking. And it has been a wonderful experience to talk about a very difficult and controversial issue. But we do it in a way that is unexpected. Instead of talking, we are walking. And we are trying to say that the journey that immigrants take, not only immigrants for refugees, to escape violence or property or war, we do not have a clue as to the toll in the price that these families take. I think for even our walkers, they are getting into touch with the bigger sacrifice and how these people are making a better life for their families. Seeing has how immigration has been such a polarizing issue, there are a lot of Americans were not happy about people crossing the border and living here illegally. What does the smart say to them ? I would say that it is more than just a statistic that we are talking about. Or a faceless kind of problem. It is men and women, it is children. I know that if we were to walk with one another, and have a reasonable discussion about ways to solve this probably can do with. I have been working in Washington, DC but the White House, and many members of Congress over the last 10 years. And what I believe is that, we are not lacking adequate plans. But we cannot get them passed. There is a gridlock in our political system. What we do have, our current immigration system is not adequate. And it does not deal with the realities of our economic and worker needs of this country. And the people that suffer the most are the immigrant families. I have to say that everyone suffers. Instead of putting our energy into how to make communities safer and more vibrant, we are spending billions of dollars trying to secure this border in a way that is not working. I wish we could reinvest that money in other ways. When does the march wrapup ? We are walking for a 11 days. We will head into the downtown area of lost Angeles on the 29th. And then we will stay a few blocks away from the Metropolitan detention Center. We will walk the last few miles that day. We anticipate our largest crowd as he do a closing vigil and prayer rally. And we will close out our pilgrimage. And we are looking forward to a time of great solidarity with many people in the Los Angeles area. And from those around the country who care about this issue. I have been speaking with Noel Casiano's. Thank you so much. Thank you for the opportunity.
About 100 faith and community leaders from across the U.S. will begin a 150-mile march at the U.S.-Mexico border Saturday morning in Imperial Beach for "El Camino del Inmigrante," or “The Path of the Immigrant."
Participants will march from Border Field State Park to the Metropolitan Detention Center in Los Angeles over the course of 11 days in an attempt to inspire empathy for immigrants, said Noel Castellanos, president of the Christian Community Development Organization.
“We want to stand in solidarity with the millions of immigrants in our country — and really, around the world — who are suffering because of bad immigration policy,” Castellanos said.
The Washington, D.C.-based organization is leading the march in partnership with The California Endowment, the National Immigration Forum and other groups.
Castellanos called U.S. immigration policy “inadequate” and “antiquated,” saying he hopes the march will send a message to Congress that people want immigration reform. He said he views the march as a pilgrimage.
“We’ll sleep in churches. Some people will stay in hotels. Some folks will probably camp out,” Castellanos said. “But the idea is, we want to walk in the shoes of our immigrant brothers and sisters.”
The event will include several rallies, including an event focusing on immigrant veterans on Wednesday in Oceanside’s First Christian Church.
