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L.I. Walkers Slog Through Rainy N.J. En Route to Immigration Reform March

Posted March 15, 2010 by Ted Hesson
Categories: Federal Immigration Policy

A group of Latino immigrants are walking south through New Jersey with their sights set on Washington, D.C., where they hope to attend a March 21 rally for immigration reform.

Saul Linares, a Hempstead-based factory worker and a member of The Workplace Project, is leading the 250-mile walk. Along the way, he’s been accompanied by day laborers and media, including this reporter.

On Friday, March 12, Saul, a group of seven immigrant advocates, and myself left the Home Depot parking lot in Hempstead (where day laborers gather for work), and journeyed across Long Island, into Queens, Brooklyn, and Staten Island. Once we crossed the Verrazano (by bus; apparently there’s no pedestrian walkway), I parted ways with the group.

From Staten Island, Saul and Juan Gomez, another Workplace Project member, soldiered on to Morristown, N.J., where they were joined by Ramiro Huinil from Viento del Espiritu (Wind of the Spirit), a worker organization based there. �Saturday was very difficult,” Saul said when I called his cell phone this morning. “It was windy, raining hard; it was completely freezing.” The wind was destroying flags, umbrellas, and signs, he said.

From Morristown, they had intended to travel to Trenton, but got sidetracked when the van that has been tailing them got stuck in the mud along the side of the road. By the time they had gotten rope at an area Home Depot and pulled the van out (I promise I’m not trying to secretly plug the mammoth hardware store), they were only able to reach Freehold, N.J., where they slept on the floor of a Catholic church.

Today the trio hopes to reach Philadelphia, although Google Maps estimates that as a 70-mile distance by car.

Linares told me on the phone this morning that some undocumented undocumented immigrants in Freehold were reluctant to walk with him for fear of being arrested. The New York City Spanish-language radio station La Mega has been airing reports about undocumented workers being arrested, Linares said, but he believes the reports are baseless and needlessly alarmist.

When I spoke with Saul, he walking towards Route 33, through an industrial area. The walkers were in good spirits, though, even if it was still raining.

Here are some links to short videos that I shot on March 12, the first day of the walk:

Maryann Sinclair Slutsky, director, Long Island Wins
http://img714.yfrog.com/i/5sv.mp4/

Saul Linares, The Workplace Project
http://img18.yfrog.com/i/ho0.mp4/

Luis Valenzuela, executive director, Long Island Immigrant Alliance (speaking about President Obama’s commitment to reform)
http://img39.yfrog.com/i/2qc.mp4/

Javier Gallardo, Long Island Civic Participation Project
http://img411.yfrog.com/i/9az.mp4/

Marching through Hempstead
http://img54.yfrog.com/i/pxu.mp4/

Walking along the Conduit in Queens
http://img706.yfrog.com/i/6vy.mp4/

Refresh your browser for the latest Twitter update on the #li2dc walk:

Also, here are photos that I shot during the walk from Hempstead to Staten Island: