While a group of schoolchildren from The Plains posed for pictures outside the Executive Mansion, another group of students was having its photos taken in front of the Civil Rights Memorial.
But these college students from Florida weren't typical sightseers at Capitol Square. They had stopped in Richmond yesterday before setting off on the final leg of their four-month, 1,500-mile walk from Miami to Washington.
Like the civil-rights figures on the memorial, "we're standing up for our rights as well," Gaby Pacheco, 25, said of their journey to raise awareness for immigration reform.
Pacheco is one of four students walking to Washington for an immigration rally May 1. They were joined in Richmond for a rally by about 25 people, including students from Virginia Commonwealth University.
They didn't get to stay long at the memorial. After Capitol police moved their rally to the Bell Tower to comply with their permit, Pacheco compared their efforts to those of students from another era who took a stand against school segregation.
Pacheco and the other students -- Felipe Matos, Carlos Roa and Juan Rodriguez -- have lived in the United States since they were young children but are facing difficulties obtaining their degrees because they are undocumented residents.
They don't have "magical nine-digit numbers," Matos said.
Ironically, they were asked for their Social Security numbers when they entered the Patrick Henry Building for a meeting with Secretary of Education Gerard Robinson. Because they didn't have identification, an assistant to Robinson had to escort them to his office.
The meeting was to be followed by a forum at VCU to encourage congressional support for the DREAM Act, or Development, Relief and Education of Alien Minors Act. The legislation would allow immigrant students to apply for legal residency in the United States.
The students are calling their walk the Trail of Dreams.
Soon after they crossed into Virginia, Pacheco said, a couple stopped to ask if they needed a ride.
"We're walking purposefully," she said she told them.
Contact Karin Kapsidelis at (804) 649-6119 or kkapsidelis@timesdispatch.com.
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