Some of the marchers had started four days and 90 miles earlier in Dilley, the town that’s home to a U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement detention center where a 5-year-old boy and his father were held for nearly two weeks.
Others joined Saturday morning on Quintana Road, near the site where 53 migrants died in 2022 after being trapped inside a sweltering tractor-trailer.
More fell in along the way, and on Saturday afternoon, the group was singing as it marched down Nueva Street toward the immigration courthouse downtown, capping a dayslong march organized by faith leaders against the detention of immigrant children and families by federal authorities.
“I feel like I couldn’t walk another step,” said Dianne Garcia, the pastor of Iglesia Christiana Roca de Refugio, who organized the march.
READ MORE: Pastor leads 90-mile march from Dilley to San Antonio in protest of family immigration detentions
“We will keep walking until no child has to worry that their mother or their father won’t return home today. We will keep walking until our communities are safe again,” she told a group of about 100 people gathered across from the courthouse. “We will keep walking until the detention centers are closed.”
In December, Garcia said 13 of her church members had been detained by immigration authorities. Seven, none with criminal records, were taken into custody during ICE check-ins. Among them were a mother and her 3-year-old child.
Daniel Perez, a student at a local Catholic high school, said his faith drove him to join the march.
“If we truly believe that every person has God-given dignity, then we must also believe that tearing families apart and placing communities in constant fear is not just a political issue, but also a moral issue,” said Perez, 16.
Staff writer Annasofia Scheve contributed to this report.
This article originally published at ‘We will keep walking’: Faith leaders complete 90-mile march from Dilley to San Antonio.