A Long Walk for a Cause (From Miami to the White House) story and pic

Activists Juan Rodriguez (L-R), Carlos Roa and Felipe Matos, who walked from Florida to Washington to join protesters to speak out against stricter immigration laws at a May Day rally in Lafayette Square Park near the White House, are introduced onstage in Washington, May 1, 2010. Furious at Arizona's tough crackdown on illegal immigrants, groups of mostly Hispanic protesters march in pro-immigration May Day rallies across the United States.


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A Long Walk for a Cause

Four immigrant students arrived at the White House on Wednesday after walking from Miami to raise support for legislation to open a path to legal status for students who are illegal immigrants.

The students, Juan Rodriguez, 20, Felipe Matos, 24, Gaby Pacheco, 25, and Carlos Roa, 22, started walking on Jan. 1, hoping to press Congress to adopt a bill known by its supporters at the Dream Act. Mr. Roa and Mr. Matos do not have legal status.

Last week, the bill’s sponsors, Senator Richard J. Durbin, Democrat of Illinois, and Senator Richard G. Lugar, Republican of Indiana, wrote a letter asking President Obama to suspend deportations of students who are illegal immigrants. The bill would give legal status to immigrants who arrived in the United States at age 15 or younger.

http://www.nytimes.com/2010/04/29/us/politics/29students.html?partner=rss&emc=rss