ASHTABULA — About 560 persons from northeast Ohio, at least 100 of them from Ashtabula County, will head to Washington on Sunday morning to participate in the March for America.

The purpose of the march is to draw attention to immigration reform, which has taken a back seat to health care reform and the economy in President Barack Obama’s sweeping agenda for change. Veronica Dahlberg, executive director of HOLA, a Hispanic advocacy organization in Lake County, said the local marchers hope to send a message from Ohio’s 14th Congressional District.

“The message is that we are mobilized and (reform) is a priority for our community, and we want the president to honor his promise that he would address this issue in his first year,” Dahlberg says.

HOLA has chartered 10 buses — two from Ashtabula, six from Lake County and two from Cleveland — at a cost of $6,000. The national Reform Immigration for America coalition provided funding; the balance came from fundraisers held by the Hispanic community.

In Ashtabula County, the community held a kermesse (charity bazaar/ church festival) in the gymnasium of the Mother of Sorrows school building. Held the first weekend of this month, the event raised $3,500 by selling traditional food like tacos and burritos prepared and donated by Hispanic women from the area.

Dahlberg compared the event to a “spaghetti-dinner fundraiser” with Mexican food. The novel fundraising approach caught the attention of National Public Radio’s Marketplace broadcast, which sent a reporter to the kermesse. The segment is to be aired today on NPR, said Dahlberg.

“It was incredible,” Dahlberg said of the event. “It was just packed with people. The food was incredible; the women worked so hard.”

Another precursor to the march is this afternoon, when many of the participants will gather at the Our Lady of Guadalupe (St. Mary’s Center for Peace) in Windsor for a blessing.

Dahlberg said the buses leave Mother of Sorrows Church at 4:30 a.m. Sunday.

She feels the march will set the stage for what could be the nation’s last opportunity for immigration reform during Obama’s term. She said lawmakers, already beat up by the health care debate, will want to ignore the hot potato as mid-term elections draw closer, and after that, as the 2012 presidential race gets under way.

The issue resurfaced this week with the announcement of a new bipartisan blueprint for legislation, which drew the president’s endorsement. U.S. Sen. Charles Schumer, D-N.Y., and Sen. Lindsey Graham, R-S.C., rolled out the four-pillared plan, which would require biometric Social Security cards and create a process for a “tough but fair path to legalization.”

“The blueprint is very harsh,” said Dahlberg. “It wants every (illegal worker) to admit they’ve broken the law, which is very unfair because they broke a broken law. I was disappointed in it, but it is a first step.”

Dahlberg says HOLA favors legislation that provides a path to citizenship for the estimated 11 million immigrants who are in the country. She said the path ought to include background checks and require applicants to pay all back taxes and fines, which would provide the federal government with an infusion of revenue — and they would need to learn English.

To address future immigration and the flow of illegal workers across the border, a system would be set up to match jobs to immigrants desiring to work here and become citizens.

The legislation HOLA supports is known as the Comprehensive Immigra-tion Reform for America’s Security and Prosperity (CIR ASAP), introduced last year by Rep. Luis Guttierez, D-Ill.

“That would be the best bill,” Dahlberg says.

online: reformingimmigrationforamerica.org