For Immediate Release: Chicagoans Join the Migrant Trail

Tucson, AZ- On May 26, 2008, for the fifth year in a row, a diverse group of individuals will begin a 75 mile walk to call attention
to the human rights crisis that is occurring on our borders. We walk in solidarity with migrants and we demand an end to the deaths
in the desert. The Migrant Trail: We walk for Life is a joint endeavor of community groups and individuals from both sides of the
border. The walk will begin Monday, May 26 in Sásabe, Sonora and arrive at Kennedy Park on Sunday, June 1st for a closing
ceremony.
This year's walk as in the previous years includes Chicagoans they include: Jeff Creath of Chicago, Gail Creath and Jim Creath of Lake
Forest, Mira Conklin of Chicago, Stephanie Dernek of Chicago and Kristin Kumpf of Chicago.
Since the 1990s over 4,000 migrants have lost their lives crossing the U.S./Mexico border. As the summer approaches, the number of
migrants dying in the desert will begin to increase dramatically, and many will die the horrible death of dehydration and exposure.
These deaths, a direct result of failed and flawed border and immigration policies, must be prevented. Participants and organizers of
the Migrant Trail call on all people of conscience to stand in solidarity with our migrant sisters and brothers.
"I recently returned from Ciudad Juarez, Mexico and El Paso, US where the militarization, violence and death toll is
increasing daily. I am implored to action for those I met and for the migrant community in Chicago IL. I walk the
migrant trail to be a witness to the human rights violations, unjust and racist border/immigration policies. I walk in
remembrance of those who died in the journey and to recommit myself and my community to work to bring about justice
and peace for the migrant." -Stephanie Dernek, 8th Day Center for Justice a faith based peace and justice organization in
Chicago IL and on the steering committee of the Chicago New Sanctuary Coalition.
"We walk not so the blisters in our feet remind us of the pain and suffering experienced by the thousands of men, women
and children who cross this desert because of unjust US immigration policy. We walk in memorial to God's children who
died senseless deaths on this same journey. We also walk for life- so that we might return from the migrant trail and join
the struggle for immigration reform as more compassionate and more engaged allies." -Jennifer Hill, minister of
Presbyterian Church USA (Jennifer was a former organizer who helped found the NoMoreDeaths in the Desert
movement and is presently the interim director of the Chicago Metropolitan Sanctuary Alliance)
The Migrant Trail Walk: We Walk for Life 2008
The precarious reality of our borderlands calls us to walk. We walk together on a journey of peace to remember people, friends and family who have died,
others who have crossed, and people who continue to come. We walk to bear witness to the tragedy of death and of the inhumanity in our midst. Lastly, we
walk as a community, in defiance of the borders that attempt to divide us, committed to working together for the human dignity of all peoples.
Sponsors Include: Coalición de Derechos Humanos, BorderLinks, West Coast Mennonite Central Committee, Catholic Relief
Services - Mexico Program, No More Deaths - Phoenix, No More Deaths- Tucson, 8th Day Center for Justice, Coloradans for
Immigrants Rights, Frontera de Cristo, Humane Borders, American Friends Service Committee- Tucson, JPIC Office of the St.
Barbara Province Franciscans, Casa Maria, SOA Tucson, Witness for Peace- México, Shalom Mennonite Fellowship, and Church of
the Good Shepherd
CONTACT INFORMATION:
TUSCON CONTACT: 520-770-1373 MIGRANT_TRAIL@YAHOO.COM WWW.DERECHOSHUMANOSAZ.NET
CHICAGO CONTACT: JENNIFER HILL 313-938-1029 (IN CHICAGO)
CHICAGO CONTACT: STEPHANIE M. DERNEK 773.960.3325 (IN TUSCON)