A 96-mile journey of faith, solidarity and hope

For the Rev. Andy Schwiebert, a birthday and a hospital brought the human cost of immigration detention into focus.

On the seventh day of an interfaith pilgrimage from Adelanto to downtown Los Angeles, Schwiebert walked past the hospital where his daughters were born. He remembered the joy of welcoming them into the world and being together as a family.

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He also remembered a young man who spent his 21st birthday traveling with his mother to visit his detained father. After a two-hour drive to Adelanto, the family waited another four hours to see him. The father, José, had been ill and his family was worried about his care.

“Birthdays ought to be occasions of joy and connection,” wrote Schwiebert, pastor of Immanuel Presbyterian Church in Los Angeles. “Yet detention can take those sacred moments away from families.”

From Sept. 29 through Oct. 6, Schwiebert and other participants walked 96 miles from the Adelanto ICE Processing Center in the high desert to the Metropolitan Detention Center in downtown Los Angeles. Their journey, Clear the Road to Freedom, brought together clergy, people of faith, labor advocates and immigration justice organizers to call attention to the experiences of detained immigrants and their families.

The distance was part of the message. For families, the journey to Adelanto can mean hours of travel, time away from work, transportation costs and long waits for a visit. The distance can also make access to legal support more difficult.

By walking the route, participants made that separation visible and carried the stories of those in detention into the communities they passed through. Approximately 20 people participated throughout the pilgrimage, with others joining along the way. The group grew during the final stretch, and several hundred people gathered at the federal building for speeches and a call to action. As one final act, hundreds of pilgrims joined the weekly vigil of the Godmothers of the Disappeared.

The pilgrimage was organized by Clergy and Laity United for Economic Justice (CLUE), Nefesh LA and Sacred Resistance, alongside community partners. According to reporting by the Episcopal Diocese of Los Angeles, the effort raised $65,000 for immigration bonds, helping provide a path to release for eligible people who otherwise might remain detained.

Schwiebert offered a glimpse of what that support can mean. “A bond payment may look like a financial transaction,” Schwiebert wrote, “but behind every bond is something much more sacred: a family reunited, a birthday celebrated together, a child able to hug a parent, a person able to come home.”

The pilgrimage also brought faith and community leaders together around a shared commitment to immigrant neighbors, building on relationships sustained through ongoing vigils, advocacy and accompaniment.

For congregations and individuals moved by that witness, there are ways to act close to home:

• Connect with your presbytery or a local immigrant-serving organization to learn what families in your community need and how you can participate.
• Support trusted legal and bond assistance organizations, including through congregational discretionary funds or presbytery resources where appropriate.
• Join a local vigil, accompaniment effort or advocacy initiative, and invite others in your congregation to participate.
• Listen to and share the stories of immigrants and their families, with their permission, so their experiences remain visible.

The pilgrimage ended in Los Angeles, but its invitation continues wherever people are willing to walk alongside their neighbors.