Immigrants, advocates, faith leaders and allies plan a 643-mile Sanctuary Caravan across Colorado, with stops Monday in Durango and Mancos to demand changes in immigration policy that would allow provide a path to citizenship for immigrants who face deportation.
The event kicks off in Durango at 10 a.m. with a prayer vigil in front of Sen. Cory Gardner’s office, followed by two events in Mancos.
From Mancos, the caravan will travel to Grand Junction, Carbondale, Castle Rock and Colorado Springs before concluding Thursday in Aurora and Denver, according to a press release from Jennifer Piper, of American Friends Service Committee.
Rosa Sabido, a Mexican national, has lived in sanctuary at the Mancos United Methodist Church for more than a year, after her request for a one-year stay of deportation was denied in May 2017
A year later, the church and the volunteer group Rosa Belongs Here have focused on Sabido, scheduling daily activities in Fellowship Hall.
Even though she’s no closer to becoming a legal U.S. resident than she was a year ago, Sabido said she feels her time in sanctuary hasn’t been wasted, and she hopes her story will help create change in America’s immigration laws or at least in the hearts of its citizens.
The caravan plans to meet with Sabido at noon Monday, and with the Rosa Belongs Here community at 5:30 p.m.
“We’ve organized across the state to protect our communities and establish that Congress can take concrete steps now to create a path to citizenship,” said Araceli Velasquez, who has been living in sanctuary for 13 months. “Our communities and our families insist we belong here and that the Colorado congresspeople take action now.”
The caravan is promoting the “People’s Resolution,” which was created by four sanctuary leaders in Colorado. It calls on the Colorado’s senators and representatives to create legal permanent residency for temporary protected status and DACA holders, protect asylum seekers, restore paths to legal permanent residency for parents of U.S. citizens and repeal the Illegal Immigration Reform and Immigrant Responsibility Act, and eliminate immigration quotas.
The schedule for the caravan:
Sept. 24Durango: Delegations to Sen. Michael Bennet and Rep. Scott Tipton’s offices at 8:30 a.m. and a prayer vigil at Sen. Cory Gardner’s office, 329 S. Camino Del Rio, Suite I, at 10 a.m.Mancos: Colorado Caravan stop with Rosa Sabido at Mancos United Methodist Church, 470 W. Grand Ave., at noon and with Zumba with Olga and the Rosa Belongs Here community at 5:30 p.m.Sept. 25Grand Junction: Prayer walk at Tipton’s office, 225 N. Fifth St. No. 511, at 12:30 p.m.Carbondale: Legislators join Two Rivers Unitarian Universalist Church and Sanctuary Leader Sandra Lopez to discuss the People’s Resolution at Third Street Center at 6:30 p.m.Sept. 26Golden, Castle Rock and Colorado Springs: The offices of Reps. Ed Perlmutter, Ken Buck and Doug Lamborn and Sens. Bennet and Gardner.Sept. 27Aurora: Rep. Mike Coffman’s officeDenver: Protest and march at 19th and California, 1-4 p.m.Denver: Press conference and potluck with legislators and Araceli Velasquez at Park Hill United Methodist and Temple Micah.For more information, visit peoplesresolution.org.
