This Saturday, Oct. 5, a broad and diverse coalition of immigrant, faith, labor, civil rights and family groups will march and rally in more than 80 actions across the nation and call on Congress to pass immigration reform with a road map to citizenship that promotes family unity and protects workers’ rights.

Take the pledge to hit the streets Oct. 5. 

A three-day 50-mile walk for citizenship that started in Madras, Ore., ended in Bend at Rep. Greg Walden's (R-Ore.) office, where working families urged a vote on the bipartisan Senate immigration bill with a road map to citizenship. 

We’re just a week from Labor Day 2013—the day each year that we celebrate the incredible contributions of America’s working people. On our new “You Work Hard. You’ve Earned It” Labor Day website, you can find:

Early in the morning in the middle of August, in cities across the state of California, alarms went off, coffee was made and bags were packed as families left their homes to travel to Bakersfield for a massive mobilization in support of comprehensive immigration reform and a road map to citizenship.  

Some activists came in vans and some came in cars, motorcycles and even a giant Teamsters bus, but together thousands spoke in one voice to send a clear message to Rep. Kevin McCarthy: We demand a vote on comprehensive immigration reform that contains a pathway to citizenship!

In Bakersfield, Calif., on Wednesday, thousands rallied outside the office of Rep. Kevin McCarthy (R) in support of a comprehensive immigration policy that includes a road map to citizenship. Republican leaders say they will not bring up the bill that was passed by the Senate, but instead will focus on several smaller immigration bills. María Elena Durazo, executive secretary-treasurer of the Los Angeles County Federation of Labor, said there will be consequences if House Republicans block the Senate bill.

Tomorrow, hundreds of cars from more than 30 California cities will join a caravan to Bakersfield to visit Rep. Kevin McCarthy's (R-Calif.) office to tell him to support an immigration policy with a road map to citizenship. This is the first of many activities in support of a new immigration policy that California's working families are planning. 

The Los Angeles County Federation of Labor sends us this piece on why two members of the Amalgamated Transit Union (ATU) are joining the caravan—with the support of their employer.

Change and innovation comes not from the status quo, but from disruption. It takes a disruption in our everyday lives to stop us in our tracks, make us reflect and decide to make a change. This idea of cognitive disruption comes from Brazilian scholar Sebastiao Ferreira. The recent wave of courageous acts of nonviolence for immigrant rights proves this true--particularly the win just this week by the DREAM Nine immigrant youth leaders. 

This past Tuesday, I had the opportunity to participate in a half-day workshop on immigration reform, sponsored by the AFL-CIO and the Economic Policy Institute. Held at the AFL-CIO's headquarters in Washington, D.C., the focus of the session was on why a road map to citizenship for America's undocumented residents is an essential component of reform, a topic that is increasingly relevant as certain House Republicans argue for creating a legalization process that would exclude citizenship as the ultimate endpoint.

Outside the Cannon House Office Building this afternoon, immigration activists, including AFL-CIO Executive Vice President Arlene Holt Baker and Communications Workers of America (CWA) President Larry Cohen, took arrest for blocking traffic during a sit-in protest. 

Watch a video of the arrest from NBC News here. 

Pointing to the “broad spectrum of support” from faith, labor and business groups that have lined up to support comprehensive immigration reform that includes a road map to citizenship, Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.) told the AFL-CIO Citizenship 2013 forum today, “I am confident we can prevail.”

McCain and Rep. Xavier Becerra (D-Calif.) kicked off the forum (we will bring more coverage later today) with a question-and-answer session at the AFL-CIO headquarters in Washington, D.C., about the bill’s prospects in the House after bipartisan (68–32) passage in the U.S. Senate. 

Watch the full video coverage of the event from C-SPAN.