The Rev. Gary Graf, 67, sees his 800-mile journey to Ellis Island as a modern-day pilgrimage. He hopes to finish the trip this month.
November 2, 2025 at 6:00 a.m. ESTToday at 6:00 a.m. EST
The Rev. Gary Graf receives a blessing in front of the childhood home of Pope Leo XIV in the Chicago suburbs in October before starting his walk to Ellis Island in New York. (Courtesy of Gary Graf)
By Ben Brasch
The Rev. Gary Graf didn’t plan past Indiana on his walk across the country.
As he often has, the Chicago-based Catholic priest figured he would rely on the “angels” in his life for support as he walks from Illinois to New York this month to raise awareness of immigrants’ rights.
Graf, 67, started his trek Oct. 6 at the childhood home of Pope Leo XIV in Dolton, Illinois, and plans to end at Ellis Island — where more than 12 million immigrants entered the United States during the facility’s peak years.
Before he began, an acquaintance commented that her mapping app showed no obvious route for the journey. Walkers had to make their own paths, Graf recalled her saying, similar to the millions of people in this country with no real pathway to citizenship.
The Washington Post interviewed Graf on Oct. 21 after he woke up in Bowling Green, Ohio, for his 15th day on the road. This conversation has been edited for length and clarity.
What gave you the idea to do this?
I lived in Guerrero, Mexico, for five years as a relatively young priest. I saw how families were separated on the other side. And most of those who have come into this country that I’ve ministered to in the Catholic Church, they come from small-town Mexico. I see men leave their wives and children behind for six months as they start work.
I think the focus today is so much on the actual entrance into this country and the way in which [immigrants] came in. But part of this journey was I felt the need to tell the whole story about why they left their country, the sacrifices they made to get here, what they’ve done since they’ve arrived and, certainly, the tremendous success story of their children and grandchildren.
How does your faith play into this?
Throughout the centuries, pilgrimage has been a way for individuals to hear with more clarity the voice of God and to be able to kind of give voice to God and God’s people. And I feel that’s my job and my responsibility as a Catholic priest.
Graf poses with a “Welcome to Ohio” sign as he walks hundreds of miles to spotlight immigrants’ rights. (Courtesy of Gary Graf)
How’s it been so far?
I enjoy walking. When I walk is when I pray. I’ve done that for most of my life. I’ve done El Camino de Santiago in Spain and walked through Mexico. Obviously, one was 30 years ago, the other was 16 years ago. But thanks be to God and to my parents and some good genes, I am healthy. I won’t be able to do this, I’m sure, a year or a couple years from now, but now I am able.
Has there been a most memorable sight or smell or sensation that you’ve experienced during these first two weeks?
Just the beauty of this country. It is a very rural walk. I’ve seen a lot of brown and black furry caterpillars walking across the highway, and I’m thinking, “If they can get across the highway, I can get down the shoulder of the road.” I’ve seen a lot of grasshoppers, baby grasshopper bouncing around and getting across the road, and I’m thinking, “If they can do it, I could do 800 miles.”
Each day, I kind of reflect on a different group of people. I’m also a part-time chaplain with the Chicago Fire Department, and I consider what they do on a daily basis, walking into danger. People in my parish, they’re walking and they’re working and they are raising families in the midst of everything going on. What I’m doing is extremely small and minimal compared to what they do on a daily basis, so they give me the energy to continue walking.
Any surprises?
A young priest invited me to go to one home with horses. He grew up in California and knew how to ride a horse, and he took one out at full gallop. Then he said, “Now, you get on.”
I said I’d take a picture, so I got on and did my John Wayne impression. And then I turned the horse, so it turned and took off in a full gallop headed to the corral, and I saw this iron bar coming at me. So I leaned to the right, fell off the horse, and I broke two ribs last Sunday. Ribs six and seven.
Maybe it was God’s way of saying, “Focus on the mission.” So I’ve been walking with two broken ribs this past week.
“Each day, I kind of reflect on a different group of people,” Graf says about his walk. (Courtesy of Gary Graf)
How are your feet holding up? What are you eating to fuel yourself?
I’ve been blessed with wonderful feet. I do walk a lot. I’ve got a pair of Merrells, the high-top kind of semi-hiking boots that are very soft and comfortable. I’ve been wearing them every day. I might have to get another pair of these on the way somewhere.
I’m not a big eater, so I probably have to pay more attention to that. I’ve got a canister of 18 ounces of water, and I probably fill it up twice a day, and then some trail mix. I threw a bag of Reese’s Pieces in there to mix it up. I’ll grab maybe a beef jerky along the way, try to eat once an 18-mile trek, so I grab something midway, like a salad or something.
Have you had people join you? Are you encouraging that?
Closer to home in Indiana, I had a friend walk with me. I had another priest. I have a good friend from college. They walked with me probably for four of the days so far. This is Day 15, I believe. It’s going to be, you know, less people up ahead, but there are people that have contacted back home and that want to meet me at certain points. And so yes, I encourage that. Anyone who wants to walk with me is invited to do so.
[Editors’ note: Graf’s team is not publicizing his route because of safety concerns.]
You’ve done a similar walk in the past and also gone on a hunger strike. What do these kind of actions teach you?
Twelve years ago, I crossed the border in Nogales, Arizona, illegally at night. I went across the desert, and it was about 113 degrees. When I turned myself into the sheriff in Nogales the next morning, I said, “This is no way to come into the country — through the window, not through the door. But an illegal act does not make someone illegal.”
Then I said: “I’m sorry for entering into the country the way I did. I need your help. I need you to help because we need comprehensive immigration reform because too many lives are at risk.”
It is certainly the story from the administration that countries are sending their “worst of the worst.” It’s not the story that I know.
You’ve never been to New York. What are you expecting it will be like when you arrive?
I have not even thought about that, what that might look like — the gathering of interfaith leaders, to be able to bring kind of the closure. And what we can say as people of God in the face of all this happening.
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