Immigration advocates go full steam ahead

The three Californians joined 22 others Wednesday to launch a 10-day train tour across America to share their stories about why they believe comprehensive immigration reform is needed. The group, which represents a swath of U.S. citizens originally from Africa, Asia, Europe and Latin America, seeks to humanize the immigration debate with personal stories bound by the common immigrant dream of seeking a better life in America for themselves and their families.

"Even though we're all different, we all have the same hopes and desires for us and our children," said Samina Sundas, an immigrant from Pakistan, as riders prepared to leave from Union Station in Los Angeles.

Sundas said the United States offered more opportunity for single mothers like her and that it enabled her to open a preschool business and keep her family afloat after she divorced.

The Dreams Across America Tour, which will take 100 immigrant advocates to Washington, D.C., to share their stories with legislators, will stage rallies along the way as riders are picked up in such cities as San Antonio, Miami, New York, Chicago and Boston. It is being sponsored by a coalition of immigrant rights and labor groups, and religious organizations.

The tour comes as immigration reform legislation is stalled in Congress. A bipartisan Senate bill that would allow the nation's 12 million illegal immigrants to apply for legalization, toughen border security and curtail family visas was sidelined last week.

Several speakers, including Cardinal Roger M. Mahony, pointed to a Los Angeles Times/Bloomberg Poll this week as evidence that the majority of Americans supported legalization of undocumented immigrants. The poll found that a strong majority of Americans surveyed, including two-thirds of Republicans, favored allowing illegal immigrants to become citizens if they pay fines, learn English and meet other conditions.

"We need to understand that because a few have raised

Then, raising his hands, he blessed the riders.

The tour marks what promoters say is the first major collaboration between traditional immigrant rights groups and the online and blogger community. At dreamsacrossamericaonline.org, people can follow the train tour, post their own written or video family stories, access data on immigrants, join bloggers on the issue and download a petition calling for comprehensive reform.