Chicago Latinos Using Virgin of Guadalupe Icon to Promote Immgiration Reform
By Hispanically Speaking News
A group of Hispanics on Wednesday in Joliet, southwest of Chicago began a two-day pilgrimage through eight Illinois cities with an image of the Virgin of Guadalupe to ask that the U.S. Congress approve immigration reform.
Besides Joliet, the caravan will make its way through Bolingbrook, Melrose Park, Stone Park, Cicero, Chicago, Des Plaines and will wind up the tour on Thursday in Waukegan.
n Chicago, the caravan will arrive early Thursday morning at the St. Pius V Catholic Church, where participants will serenade an image of the Virgin of Guadalupe.
Thousands of people will gather until Thursday at the Our Lady of Guadalupe shrine near Chicago to demonstrate their devotion to Mexico’s patron saint.
In a recent interview with Efe, the coordinator of the event, Eduardo Pina, said that the initiative seeks to exert pressure on lawmakers to approve an immigration reform package that will remove the 11 million undocumented foreigners living in this country from limbo and prevent the deportation and separation of thousands of families.
Pina said that the Virgin of Guadalupe, considered to be “The queen of the immigrants,” has become a symbol of the faith of undocumented migrants.
This article was originally published in Hispanically speaking News.
[Image courtesy Hispanically Speaking News]