by Amanda Quintana | August 17, 2024
Immigration activists are walking 48 miles from San Jose to San Francisco to call for a path to citizenship for all undocumented immigrants.
“The 11 million people in this country who have lived here for decades deserve a path to adjust their status,” said Renee Saucedo of the Northern California Coalition for Fair Immigration Reform.
Organizers say 250 people have registered for the walk, which will make stops in Menlo Park on Saturday and South San Francisco on Sunday before ending Monday in front of San Francisco City Hall for a rally at 3 p.m.
The group is pushing for Congress to support two bills — one in the House and one in the Senate, both introduced by California lawmakers — that would expand eligibility for what is known as the Registration Program.
The program allows undocumented immigrants who have lived in the United States for a long time to obtain legal immigration status.
Currently, the law only applies to people who entered the country before 1972.
Every few years it was supposed to be reviewed and then granted amnesty to a certain number of people, right? Well, the last time it was done was under Reagan in '86, so it's been too long,” said Marisa Almor, who helps immigrants with legal services.
If the bills pass, all immigrants who have lived in the U.S. for at least seven years, have paid taxes and have a clean criminal record would be eligible. Almor estimates that would be around 8 million people.
“If we don't find paths to citizenship, we are only doing ourselves a disservice,” said Santa Clara County Supervisor Cindy Chavez, who showed her support at the march.
Chavez said immigrants are essential to our economy, especially the agricultural industry.
“When we talk about immigration reform, we are talking about ensuring that our economy is stable. “We’re talking about making sure that we don’t have people moving in and out of our communities, that our neighborhoods are stable, that our schools are stable,” she said.
And with the presidential election season in full swing, this group is pushing even harder for immigration reform.
“To Donald Trump, we will not tolerate mass deportations. And to Kamala Harris, you need to establish a path to citizenship through the existing registration process, which is central to your immigration agenda,” Saucedo said.