WASHINGTON D.C. — Thousands of supporters of immigration reform rallied around the Capitol on Wednesday, calling on lawmakers to support a path to citizenship for an estimated 11 million undocumented people. 

Buses filled will advocates traveled from different parts of Michigan to participate. There was a delegation of nearly 500 people from Michigan taking part in the rally. 

“I march for my family and the countless other families who worry every day if they’ll be separated,” said Sarai Nieves of Sturgis, who went to D.C. to march. “From Metro Detroit to Grand Rapids and everywhere between we’ve added our voices to the demand to protect the most precious resource of the nation, our families.  Thousands are at risk of losing their loved ones to the broken immigration system.  This is urgent.” 

There was a delegation of nearly 500 people from Michigan taking part in the demonstration. PHOTO: REUTERS

Stories across the country and in Michigan are highlighting the need for immigration reform. Sarai Nieves headed to the nation’s capitol to march for the rights of her family. Nieves and her family followed her father to the U.S. when she was four. Her family lives in Sturgis and owns a home, holds jobs and are leaders at their community church. Sarai is marching in Washington, D.C. in hopes that someday her family can stop living in fear of being torn apart by deportation.

Delegations from Lansing, Ann Arbor, Grand Rapids, Detroit, Dearborn, Flint, Kalamazoo and Macomb mobilized for the historic march.  Michigan United, the United Auto Workers, ACCESS, the Micah Center, ACTION of Lansing, and several Catholic parishes, including St. Mary’s of Ann Arbor, Holy Name of Jesus Church in Grand Rapids, and St. Francis/St. Maximillian in New Haven, collaborated together to organize 14 buses. 

“Our message is united and clear- the system is flawed and it’s time to fix it,” said Adonis Flores, a volunteer and participant. 

“Families in Michigan and across the country are unnecessarily and tragically being torn apart. These are law-abiding people who contribute to local communities that are unfairly being targeted. It’s time our lawmakers focus on families, and that starts with fixing our broken immigration system with a clear path to citizenship.” 

 Demonstrators waved flags from the United States and Latin American countries, and held signs reading “Citizenship for 11 million” and “Basta ya! La deportacion,” which translates to “Deportation, enough already.”

The National Rally for Citizenship in Washington, D.C., took place a day after negotiators in the U.S. Senate said they were putting the finishing touches on an immigration reform bill that would likely be completed in their chamber this week. Related protests were held in California.

Republicans have since started to get behind immigration reform, an effort that had been mainly embraced by Democrats. “Together we educate, rally, pray and knock on doors until a comprehensive immigration reform bill arrives at the desk of President Obama,” Gustavo Torres, president of immigration advocacy group CASA in Action, told the crowd on the Capitol’s west lawn. “You are the movement that will win immigration reform.”

A bipartisan group from the Republican-led House of Representatives is working on its own version of a bill, one that also includes ways to earn citizenship. Inside the Russell Building before the rally, protesters packed the Senate Agriculture Committee room to urge Michigan Senators Debbie Stabenow and Carl Levin, both Democrats, to back immigration reform.

“We want to make sure that there is a wage built in, a living wage rate,” Stabenow said. She added that she wanted two paths to regularize farm workers: one for those who move from state to state for work and another for those who return to their countries of origin between jobs.