Forty Latino and African-American children and teens left Miami on a bus for Washington Monday to send a strong message to US President Donald Trump to stop deporting undocumented immigrants.

When the boys and girls between ages 2-18 arrive in the nation's capital they will join up with a similar group of more than 100 youthful activists from New York, and all will raise their voices together on behalf of immigrants' rights, just yards (meters) away from Trump's residence in the White House.

Before getting on the bus that will travel some 1,300 miles (2,100 kilometers), little Leah Cayaso, 11, was sobbing in her dad's arms, excited about the trip but also afraid for the future of her family.

She wants to "stop the deportations" and no longer have to worry about losing her father.

The bus from Miami will make its first stop in Atlanta, where the youths will meet with others sharing their struggle, and afterwards will head for Raleigh, North Carolina, where they will give a press conference before the state's Education Department.

The bus will than take off for Washington, where it will arrive Thursday, April 13. Together with their colleagues from New York, the young people will lead a demonstration at Lafayette Square in front of the presidential mansion.

Elena Marquez, 17, of Guatemalan descent, is one of the oldest girls to ride the bus, along with all the others who were giving up their Spring Break for something they consider "more important," fighting for their rights.

Marquez, speaking with all the anger of someone who saw her father deported after traffic cops pulled him over "without a driver's license," told her companions on the bus: "We're not afraid, we're brave and we'll never give in - this is just the beginning!"