Three Colorado women will soon travel to the East Coast ahead of Pope Francis’s visit to bring attention to the struggles facing immigrant families.

The three will be among 100 women who will make a pilgrimage to see the pope this week. The women will converge on Philadelphia, where they will walk 100 miles from a federal detention center to Washington, D.C.

The federal facility, York County Prison, is an immigration enforcement field office.

The local women attended a Friday press conference outside of downtown Denver’s El Centro Humanitario para los Trabajadores (Humanitarian Center for Workers). They included Esmeralda “Ezzie” Dominguez of Denver, a U.S. citizen whose husband is in the process of obtaining citizenship.

Dominguez said her 100-mile walk is nothing compared to the collective journeys of immigrants who leave their homes to seek better lives in other lands.

“How many miles do immigrants and refugees need to walk to get here?” said Dominguez. “It’s not 100. It’s not 1,000. It’s millions of miles that they have to walk and suffer. So 100 miles … in comparison to what they do, is nothing.”

Immigrant-rights activists are excited about the pope’s visit. The pope has urged countries to adopt more compassionate immigration policies, something he is expected to discuss when he addresses Congress Sept. 24.

The pope’s trip includes a meeting with President Obama and a trip to Philadelphia, where he will meet with immigrants and their families.

The pope’s visit comes as Europe is experiencing a crisis-like surge in migrants and refugees. It also comes as the debate surrounding immigration reform has reached a particularly intense point in U.S. politics – fueled by inflammatory comments about Mexican immigrants made by Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump.

The pope will address a Congress that has failed to pass immigration reform legislation despite polling that consistently shows Americans want action on the issue.

Immigrant activists like Celest? Martinez of Denver, who will be making the pilgrimage, see an ally in Pope Francis. Martinez – she was born in California and is a Regis University graduate – does advocacy work for El Centro.

“I feel very grateful to carry the women and children and families of Colorado and their stories of struggle with migration to ask Pope Francis to share their stories of struggle with the president and Congress during this coming visit,” she said.

El Centro is a member of the National Domestic Workers Alliance, which has backed various campaigns aimed at protecting women and children who are immigrants.

El Centro’s campaign director Nancy Rosas said initiatives like the pilgrimage aim “to raise the dignity, the courage and the leadership and the resilience of immigrant women.

“Any time women come together, we are powerful,” she said.

Dominguez’s trip will be an emotional one. Her husband has been involved in a lengthy naturalization process that she said has been hung up by complexities in the system. At the same time, she is receiving radiation treatment for bone cancer.

“We are not criminals,” Dominguez said. “We’re not here to do any damage or do anything to anybody. We’re just here to work and to prosper and to give a wonderful life to our children and our family.”

Rev. Anne Dunlap, an area immigrant-rights activist, blessed Dominguez, Martinez and Martha Freyre before they set out on their trip. Dunlap blessed them with water infused with herbs that are “connected to the power of the divine feminine.”

“In this way, they can remember that we walk with them; that they are not alone on this journey; that they represent us, but we also go with them on this walk,” she said.

– Twitter: @VicVela1