(NewsNation) — Hundreds of immigrant community members, allies and supporters will embark on a three-day, 40-mile walk on Saturday in Northern California in support of a bill that would allow undocumented migrants living in the U.S. to apply for legal, permanent residency.
Migrants will walk from San Jose and Petaluma to the San Francisco Federal Building, where they expect to congregate on Monday to remind Congress of the 40 years of inaction on immigration legislation, according to the East Bay Sanctuary Covenant.
The walk is being organized by members of the Northern California Coalition For Just Immigration Reform and dozens of other immigrant rights organizations across Northern California.
If passed, Bill HR 1511 — otherwise known as the “Registry Bill” — would provide legal immigration status to approximately 8.5 million undocumented people currently living in the country.
The bill would update a 1929 law that states illegal individuals could apply for residency as long as they have lived in the U.S. for seven years. An estimated eight million people of 11 million would benefit under the new update, the coalition reported.
“No more suffering! We ask that Congress pass H.R. 1511 so that migrants have a reasonable process to apply for residency, and they may come out of the shadows of work exploitation and fear,” said Socorro Diaz, leader of NCCJIR and of ALMAS LIBRES, an immigrant & Indigenous women’s empowerment organization in Sonoma County.
The bill was reintroduced back in March by Reps. Norma Torres, D-Calif.; Zoe Lofgren, D-Calif.; Lou Correa, D-Calif.; Grace Meng, D-N.Y.; Adriano Espaillat, D-N.Y.; and Jesús “Chuy” García , D-Illi.
The “All In for Registry” walk will begin at 8 a.m. PDT. It is the first event of many in August and September that are meant to show support for the registry update, SFGate reported.