Back in February, Rep. Luis Gutierrez launched a nationwide Family Unity Tour that has since swung through churches in 21 states, seeking to put a human face on the effects of our broken immigration system. We were on hand at a Chicago Church last year when Gutierrez made his initial pledge to travel across the country and show first-hand how families are being torn apart by Congress' unwillingness to pass comprehensive immigration reform.  Watch it: 

Six months later, the tour will come full circle this Saturday when Gutierrez leads a rally for comprehensive reform at Chicago's McCormick Place West.

Gutierrez told us last December that if there’s one thing he’s learned during his 23-year political career it’s this: “If [elected officials] look to their left and look to their right and they see millions of people organized … it’s easier to get things done.” His high-profile campaign has succeeded in drawing a range of support that's helped elevate this issue. Just last month, President Obama announced that comprehensive immigration reform would be a priority this year. While there's still no formal plan in Congress, the White House has already taken some small strides, such as enacting new Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) regulations to scale back workplace raids and instead shift prosecution to employers who knowingly hire undocumented workers.

Meanwhile, Gutierrez says, via a release, that America must fully confront this "moral crisis" now:

"Though we have only just passed the first 100 days of the Obama Administration, it is the 11th hour for our immigrant community, and there is no time to waste," said Rep. Gutierrez. "On Saturday, Chicago's families will come forward to honor their mothers in the most important way — by demanding family unity."

"They are parents and children, husbands and wives who have been torn apart by a system that values fear over family values. Through the Family Unity effort, U.S. citizens have raised their voices for a better vision of America, and they have shown Washington that immigration reform is not an abstract policy debate — but a pressing moral crisis. "