Trail of Dreams

A small group of Latino immigrants are set to embark on a four-month march from Miami to Washington, D.C. to advocate for comprehensive immigration reform.  The group's leaders, who are children of illegal immigrants brought to the U.S. by their parents, have been inspired by migrant farm worker marches of the 1970s and the civil rights protest marches of the 1960s. 

In the summer of 2006, immigrants flooded into the streets across the U.S. to demonstrate in favor of reform and a path to citizenship for those here illegally.  Those demonstrations sparked a national conversation and caught the attention, at least for a brief time, of legislators in D.C.  Large marches are problematic at this point, in part owing to stepped-up detentions and deportations by federal immigration officials.  The marchers are at risk of deportation themselves.  Nevertheless, they feel that a public march is necessary to draw greater attention to the plight of illegal immigrants in the U.S.