About a dozen youth announced Tuesday in Federal Plaza that they would be taking to the streets in one week to raise awareness about undocumented young people living in the U.S.

The march, called “Coming out of the Shadows,” is a walk that activists said can give young non-citizen immigrants a voice. It will be held a week before the larger March for America national immigrant rights rally, which will be in Washington, D.C., on March 20.

Chicago-based Immigrant Youth Justice League organizers hope the walk will hold Illinois policymakers accountable and bring immigrant issues into the spotlight of national policy.

“This action is a call for leadership from [U.S.] Senator Dick Durbin (D-IL), who has worked for and promised the DREAM Act and comprehensive immigration reform for years,” the IYJL said in a news release. “Now, as the Senate’s second-ranking leader, he is in a position to deliver.”

Almost 44 percent of all apprehensions made by U.S. Border Control in 2008 were of people under the age of 24, according to statistics from the Department of Homeland Security.

Most of the youth, who only used their first names for fear of being targeted by Immigration and Customs Enforcement, said that after growing up in the U.S. and going to school here, they deserve the rights of a citizen.

They were not deterred by the possibility that ICE officials could show up at the rally to arrest participants because of their illegal status.

“There’s power in coming out,” said Jorge, an undocumented college student. “We support each other. We’re comfortable with saying ‘I’m undocumented.’”

They were willing to risk it, Jorge said, because the cause was urgent to young immigrants like him.“It needs to be addressed,” he said. “If it’s not addressed, we’re going to keep living in the shadows. We’re tired of that.”