A mother and her son traveled from California to help Coloradans fight for immigration reform, but the voyage didn’t stop there.
The two joined activists on a four-day Pilgrimage for Citizenship, walking 60 miles from Denver to Greeley, to ask politicians to sign on their support for a reform that will create a pathway to citizenship for millions of undocumented immigrants.
The mother, Xochilt, said she would not just walk 60 or even 100 miles. She won’t stop walking until members of the immigrant community get the justice and dignity they deserve.
“We continue to get older. We continue to get tired, and we continue to not have justice,” Xochilt said.
More than a dozen activists arrived at U.S. Rep. Yadira Caraveo’s district office in Greeley on Monday afternoon, the final destination of the Pilgrimage for Citizenship after four days of traveling on foot in Colorado’s 8th Congressional District.
Pilgrimage participants trekked through the state in hopes of swaying Caraveo, as well as Senators John Hickenlooper and Michael Bennet to support a pathway to citizenship through an update to the registry bill.
H.R. 1511, the Renewing Immigration Provisions of Immigration Act of 1929, would help qualified undocumented people who have lived in the United States for more than seven years on a pathway to citizenship. More than 8.5 million undocumented immigrants would benefit from the passing of the bill, according to Raquel Lane-Arellano, communications manager for the Colorado Immigrant Rights Coalition.
The registry bill, in existence since 1929, has been updated eight times to open a path to citizenship for immigrants. Lawmakers last updated the bill 37 years ago in 1986 during the Reagan Administration.
The current bill states anyone who has been in the U.S. since before the established date, Jan. 1, 1972, can apply for permanent residency if they meet all requirements. However, Lane-Arellano said, this timeframe doesn’t apply to many people anymore.
“There’s been about three generations that haven’t had any real mechanism for citizenship that’s meaningful like what we saw in 1986,” Lane-Arellano said. “And these are people who’ve built families, established businesses … they’re part of our communities in really integral ways.”
In Greeley, community leaders met with a local congregation for a community gathering before making their final stretch to Caraveo’s office, where a press conference ensued. Caraveo wasn’t present for the event, but a member of her staff briefly addressed and listened to the crowd.
Activists grabbed a microphone to communicate their disappointment with Caraveo, who hasn’t signed on to the registry bill despite being a daughter of immigrants, they said. Lupita Cardoza, an immigrant speaker “standing up for her family,” expressed the need for an immediate solution: immigrant reform.
“We don’t want any more empty promises, we want solutions today,” Cardoza said. “As an immigrant mother, I stand here for the generations before me and the generations that will come.”
Efforts to update the registry bill have been in motion for nearly two years, according to Lane-Arellano. Besides Caraveo, every Democratic member of the Colorado delegation has signed on, including Rep. Jason Crow, Joe Neguse, Diana DeGette and Brittany Pettersen.
Though Caraveo agreed that it’s time for comprehensive immigration reform, she doesn’t believe the registry bill will find success in a divided Congress.
“I think that it’s very important that the Latino community, of which I represent a large portion in the 8th District, makes its concerns heard,” Caraveo told the Tribune on Monday.
Immigration reform, an issue Caraveo has tracked closely due to her parent’s immigration status, has caused a divided Congress, she said. For the past 40 years, she believes both political parties have failed the immigrant community throughout the country.
Caraveo said her focus remains on solutions that are going to get through both political parties.
This includes working with Republican colleagues to solve the issue of immigration and acknowledging the important roles immigrants play in the community and the economy, according to Caraveo. She’s involved in a bipartisan immigration group and an agriculture labor working group reviewing the H-2A visa program to find legislation both parties can agree on.
“The sad thing about the registry bill is that in a Republican-controlled House, that measure is just not going to go anywhere this year,” Caraveo said. “What are the things that both parties can agree on? Because we’re going to need both parties to fix an issue that both parties have ignored for far too long.”
Many community leaders and activists, including Fabiola Hernandez, pleaded with Caraveo at the last stop on the Pilgrimage to Citizenship to do what she said she was going to do if elected: stand up for immigrant families. Hernandez added if Caraveo would not stand up for solutions and the community by supporting H.R. 1511, she should step aside and let someone else take her spot.
In addition to registry updates, Hernandez and others also called for the passing of H.R. 1698, the American Families United Act, which would provide relief for families with mixed status, undocumented and U.S. citizens.
Homero Ocon, another activist demanding justice and dignity for the immigrant community, not only called for Caraveo’s action on the two bills, but he also called out Caraveo for backing legislation he said is harmful to immigrants as they ask for her support.
As the immigrant community experiences heightened fear of the police, according to Ocon, Careveo voted in support of the POLICE Act. The legislation states that undocumented immigrants can get deported if they have been convicted of assault against a law enforcement officer or first responder.
“I am here because we don’t want politicians who are going to turn their back on us once they’re in office,” Ocon said. “I don’t stand here because I dislike politicians. We recognize that they are also human beings like us … but their policies and their decisions have the ability to hurt our families and create fear in our communities, as well.”
The pilgrimage included stops at the Capitol in Denver, senators’ offices and Caraveo’s office in Northglenn. The group, many of whom traveled between 12 and 16 miles per day, also journeyed to Brighton, Fort Lupton and Platteville before arriving in Greeley.
“We put our faith and our votes on her when she was running for office, and we hope that she supports the bill,” Hernandez said.
