Four Florida college students set out on New Year’s Day for a four month trek to Washington D.C. They plan to arrive in the Capitol on May 1st for an immigrant rights rally and raise a lot of support along the way. All four were brought to this country as children.

According to a Miami Herald article:

All are top students at local colleges and campus leaders. Some are now here legally, some are not. All say they are willing to take the risks that come with bringing attention to the plight of students who, like themselves, were brought to the U.S. as children and are now here illegally.

“I’m tired of coming back to school each semester and hearing about another friend who was picked up and deported,” Juan Rodriguez told a group of supporters during a recent gathering.

Rodriguez, president of the student government at Miami Dade College’s InterAmerican Campus, and the others say they were inspired by the migrant farmworkers who walked the length of California in the 1970s, and by the civil rights marches of the 1960s.

Cheryl Little, of the Florida Immigrant Advocacy Center  told the AP reporter, “These wonderful students believe so much in the dream – in the American dream. They really believe they can make a difference and are willing to put their lives on the line, but they are going to be walking through some very unfriendly places for immigrants.”