A group representing students, alumni, the university board and others participated in the Christian Community Development Association (CCDA) conference and walk August 26-27, 2016. FPU Dreamers & Friends, a student group, walked 18 miles of “El Camino del Immigrante,” a 10-day, 150-mile pilgrimage from the Tijuana border to the conference location in Los Angeles highlighting the broken immigration system.
“Every day immigrants cross borders into our nation, and around the world. Their journeys represent a pilgrimage toward a better future for them and for generations to come,” CCDA President and CEO Noel Castellanos said in a statement. “We, who are intimately aware of the suffering of our immigrant neighbors, have been working and waiting for our broken immigration system to be reformed. We must confront the injustice of our current immigration policy. As leaders, we are choosing to publicly walk in solidarity to call out this injustice and highlight the often-silenced voices of suffering immigrants and their families.”
FPU walkers included 17 students, four alumni, three supporters and one board member. Dina Gonzalez-Piña, assistant dean of multicultural ministries, attended the conference as a member of its national board. More about the conference at www.ccda.org/events/el-camino