As a middle class, suburban-dwelling, white girl, I did not meet immigrants or refugees in America until I sought out a narrative different from which I was raised. Last summer I obtained a grant to organize and run a summer camp for children in Oakland, CA, who were largely refugees and [...]Read More
Bethany Anderson: Why I am doing El Camino
In 2013, I had the opportunity to participate in a public display of solidarity with my immigrant brothers and sisters on the lawn of Congress in Washington DC through the Fast 4 Families. I was almost a decade into my journey of understanding our broken immigration system in the context of the [...]Read More
A Call for Unity in the Body: Dominique Gilliard
I am participating in the CCDA Camino because I cannot apathetically watch families be torn apart, laborers economically exploited, and entire people groups dehumanized and depicted as criminals. In the midst of such darkness, the Church is called to bear witness to the light, who is Jesus [...]Read More
Felicia Graham: Why I am doing El Camino
This summer has been bittersweet. The bitter part of this summer has been losing family members. My Uncle Greg, my Tio Agustine, and my cousin Norma all passed away within weeks of each other. At my Tio Agustine’s funeral, I had the honor of meeting my 96-year-old Tia Concha. I also learned that my [...]Read More
Vota Por Mi: The Immigrants Behind the Vote
Later this month, I’ll be taking a long walk. While I won’t be able to participate in the full eleven-day journey, I’ll be joining the final few days of El Camino del Inmigrante; a walk from the US-Mexico border up to Downtown Los Angeles, where CCDA’s annual conference will take place this [...]Read More
Andy Krumsieg: Why I am doing El Camino
What made you decide to do El Camino? When Noel mentioned the idea of El Camino last year at the CCDA conference, I sensed a nudge of the Lord to do it. Also, I am white male living in an African-American community, and I have very little interaction with immigrants of any kind. I do not want that [...]Read More
Nate Bacon: Why I am doing El Camino
Last summer, while visiting the States from our home (of seven years) in Guatemala, I was surprised to receive a phone call from Noel Castellanos. He shared with me a gripping vision that had laid hold of his mind and heart. What if there were a way to combine the powerful experience [...]Read More
A Broken System Calls for Reform: Marie Moy’s Story
As a first-generation Chinese-American, my own story is intertwined with challenges posed by the U.S. immigration policy. My father came to the States as a teenager in the fifties. He had lost his mother, two sisters, and younger brother when the Japanese invaded Hong Kong, and his [...]Read More