DREAM Act Portal Forum - 1,500-mile trek brings attention to illegal immigrants

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1,500-mile trek brings attention to illegal immigrants

MELBOURNE — Gaby Pacheco always has wanted to give back to the country where she's spent most of her life.

The 24-year-old earned her bachelor's degree in special education from Miami-Dade College last year. But she can't get a job.

It's not the economy, though. Brought to the U.S. from Ecuador at age 7, she cannot secure employment because she is an illegal immigrant.

"People have invested in me," Pacheco said Thursday. "I can't give back. The system, I guess, doesn't want me to."

Pacheco -- along with Felipe Matos, 23, Carlos Roa, 20, and Juan Rodriguez, 22 -- have banded together for the "Trail of Dreams," a 1,500-mile trek from South Florida to Washington, D.C. The four began their journey Jan. 1 from Miami's Freedom Tower and aim to end at the U.S. Capitol on May 1, where they will participate in a rally for immigration reform.

All four are with the grass-roots Students Working for Equal Rights. They came to the United States in early childhood and consider it home, but find their immigration status doesn't allow them to attain their American dreams.

The four, along with a few others, gathered at U.S. 1 and Sarno Road Thursday afternoon -- their second day in Brevard -- to talk about why they're hitting the road. Along the way, they share their stories at churches and organizations. An RV funded by donations follows them, providing them a place to rest.

"We're tired of the situation we're in," Matos said. "The present is so unbearable."

Matos came to South Florida at 14 from Brazil. He said as a student, he did everything right: getting good grades, academic accolades and serving as student government president.

"I've already proven I can succeed academically and socially," Matos said of his inability to attain a bachelor's degree, which he says is more expensive because he is a non-citizen. "My dream is to become a teacher. It's the only way for people to get out of poverty."

The four say they realize the risk they take by speaking out, but feel they must.

"We have to be in the shadows, have to be scared," Matos said of his experience growing up.

"We live our entire lives in fear, the fact that we are undocumented," said Rodriguez, who became a citizen last year, of the fear of being detained or deported. "Our own peers have gone through it."

Andrea Ortiz, 20, of Sarasota was along for the walk. Originally from Colombia, she is now a U.S. citizen.

"I don't want to live in a community that has these differences in quality," Ortiz said of supporting the journey. "I want to challenge my community to improve and be better."

Members of the group said they rallied to support President Barack Obama's election and are pushing for him to reform current immigration laws. Matos said the group seeks a pathway to citizenship, access to education, workers' rights and the end of the separation of families.

"The current immigration system has been ripping our families apart," he said.

Romeo Dela Paz of Palm Bay joined the group for Thursday's walk, saying it's important to have advocates for immigration reform. "I'm an immigrant from the Philippines," he said.

http://www.floridatoday.com/article/...l%20immigrants