Activists participate in 50-mile trek across Bay Area to protest immigration enforcement

On Sunday, marchers began day two of a three-day journey protesting U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement's presence in the Bay Area.  

The 50-mile march from the wine-growing region of Napa to the proposed ICE detention center in Dublin is this year's version of an annual event they call the Caminata.

"This was the year I had to do it," said marcher Aldo Solano. "Obviously, we see what's going on across the country, and it's important to get involved in any capacity. If it means walking 50 miles, that's what we're doing."

Solano had heard about the Caminata, but as they took their first break of the day, he said he wasn't sure what to expect when he joined the 100 or so marchers.

"You know, I thought it was going to be a brisk walk and it's physically taxing. It is. I can feel it in the balls of my feet," he said. "But obviously, what keeps us moving is the ideals behind it. That's the motivating fact and the music that helps."

The now annual event began during the Biden administration, when activists were pushing for a path to citizenship for immigrants.

Since then, organizer Renee Saucedo said President Trump's aggressive deportation orders have ramped up the tension exponentially.

"So, we're walking to show that urgency," she said. "And people are putting their bodies on the line to say, hey folks, the federal government wants to open up another immigrant concentration camp, or jail, here in our region, in Dublin and Gilroy."

Sunday's leg of the journey took the marchers through the City of Vallejo. As they pressed on, organizer Danny Celaya said protests like the Caminata send a message and not just to the federal government.

"Honestly, what's most important is the community," he said. "For the community to know that we have their backs and that we are fighting for immigrant rights."

The march was organized by the Northern California Coalition for Just Immigration Reform, a partnership of more than 17 immigrant rights and faith-based organizations.  

Rev. Chris Fortin is a Buddhist monk from Sebastopol who joined the trek as part of an interfaith alliance. She said she believes protests like the march may have a deeper impact than one might imagine.

"You know, maybe it will turn someone's heart," she said, "but I really believe this kind of operates on a level of, there's just goodness and you just have to be it and live it in the face of a lot that's happening that looks really not good. So, I think it's going to change things on a level we may not know in this moment. But I believe in it."

The march began in Napa, Aldo's hometown. Although it is a region dependent on immigrant labor, he said it's still easy for many to cast a blind eye to how the workers are being treated.

"I think in reality, in practice, immigrant labor is used when it's useful. And when it's not, it can be put to the side," he said. "It's almost like an expendable workforce. That's why I'm in the fight. My parents were immigrants, but we're not expendable. We belong here, more importantly than anything, you know?"

With that, they crossed the Carquinez Bridge into Contra Costa County, heading for Dublin.