A recent item was a first-hand account of riding the bus from San Francisco to Washington for the big amnesty fiesta on Sunday. Golly, I wonder who shows up as the welcoming committees on the road trip?

Every place we stop - Oakland, Sac and Reno - priests greet us. Most riders seem very religiously engaged. On the Bus for Immigrant Rights: Day 1 [3/19/10]

I guess the anti-borders Catholics haven't heard the good news of immigration sanity from our beloved Father Pat: Father Bascio on the immorality of illegal immigration.

Back on the bus...

The 53 bus seats are occupied with activists of all ages from across California. Julio Salgado, came from Santa Barbara and drove to Sacramento to pick up the bus. Oscar Mangandid, a 20-year-old City College student, from the Mission. At each stop, new people board.

Many riders spend the time preparing their testimony for Washington where they hope to impress on Congress the importance of legislation to legalize the country's more than 11 million undocumented immigrants.

The biggest news of the day is that Senator Barbara Boxer has agreed to meet with folks from PICO, a national network of faith-based organizations. She had previously refused to, according to Fernando from PICO. He credits her change of mind to the actions of activists in San Francisco.

Otherwise, the talk on the bus is all about immigration. The couple next to me discuss the Irish, once undocumented and now influential.

Ahem, the only "undocumented" Irish are the current ones who are annoying beyond their relatively low numbers because of their attitude of entitlement.