http://www.mysanantonio.com/news/metro/ ... 4e6ec.html

While politicians pontificate on the fate of millions of illegal immigrants from the halls of Congress, from her store 1,750 miles away, Amparo Escalante doesn't want to hear about numbers anymore.

To her, it's about faces.

Like the faces of hundreds of illegal crossers who have come her way through the years, visiting her convenience store in Los Fresnos, a small town in the Rio Grande Valley about 15 miles from the border.

Concluding that national leaders have become lost in numbers as they work to enact the first systematic overhaul of the immigration system in a decade, Escalante today will join four San Antonians and embark on a train ride to the U.S. capital.

The effort, dubbed "Dreams Across America," involves 100 immigrants recruited from across the country by labor unions to converge on Washington by rail for a gathering of pro-migrant activists Tuesday. Four trains are picking them up in various cities.

The five South Texas volunteers will hop on an Amtrak coach here this morning to join 50 others who started the whistle-stop photo op in Los Angeles.

Though the effort was organized while the U.S. Senate was still considering a high-profile compromise bill that's now on life support after debate was abruptly cut off last week, Escalante and her fellow riders from San Antonio still see a purpose.

"Based on my experience, all I see is good people just trying, looking for a chance to get by," said Escalante, 58, who feels compelled to provide food, water and directions to migrants who stop by her shop after wading across the Rio Grande.

For the "dreamers" traveling to Washington, the point is to convince decision-makers that, whether they entered the country legally or not, the vast majority of migrants simply want to become the next Americans.

Rodelmar "Rudy" Alcántara is already on his way.

A directory assistance operator for AT&T in San Antonio for six years, Alcántara is a permanent resident preparing to apply for citizenship. He came here on a temporary visa before gaining residency through the sponsorship of his mother, a citizen.

He's taking part in the rail-borne advocacy campaign because he's convinced that thousands of other immigrants deserve a chance to make it.

"We're all human beings seeking a better life in this beautiful country," said Alcántara, 36, who previously worked as an accountant in his hometown of Salamanca, in the Mexican state of Guanajuato. "It's all about the American Dream."

Yet, at least for some, reaching that dream is not just about attaining citizenship.

José DÃ*az, who came to San Antonio from Puerto Rico, where people are born U.S. citizens under a 1917 law, said discrimination doesn't end just because someone is an American.

He said immigrants will always need to keep proving their worth in U.S. society, no matter what a piece of paper says.

"Gaining citizenship shouldn't be our last step," DÃ*az said. "Gaining respect is the real last step."