Immigrants and their supporters in Michigan are fasting for 24 hours to
Immigrants and their supporters in Michigan are fasting for 24 hours to support immigration reform, one of several efforts that have taken place across the U.S.
About 45 people in Michigan started fasting Wednesday night in Dearborn at the Arab Community Center for Economic and Social Services (ACCESS) and will break their fast at 6 p.m. today at the 555 Gallery in southwest Detroit, an area with a significant percentage of immigrants.
“It’s important to act in solidarity,” said Ryan Bates, director of Michigan United, a liberal group that pushes for immigration reform, higher wages, and other issues.
At the International Institute in Detroit today, some of the fasters criticized Congressional leaders for not passing immigration reform. They spoke behind a podium with a sign that read: “Keeping Families Together: Immigration Reform Now.”
“Every day, they stall, every day, they delay,” said Miriam Cuevas, an immigrant from Mexico. She and others criticized House Speaker John Boehner. R-Ohio, who last month said he wants reform, but wants it in smaller bills, not in one big bill.
“The American people are skeptical of big, comprehensive bills,” Boehner said last month in a statement posted on his website. “And frankly, they should be. The only way to make sure immigration reform works this time is to address these complicated issues one step at a time.”
President Barack Obama and Vice President Joe Biden met last month with a group of fasting immigrants in Washington. They fasted for 23 days before quitting because of failing health. Today, Chicago Mayor Rahm Emanuel said he would fast for 24-hours, reported the Chicago Tribune.
Cindy Garcia, a UAW member from Lincoln Park whose husband faces potential deportation, is one of the local fasters. She said “fasting is a peaceful struggle that shows the urgency of the need for immigration reform for our loved ones who want nothing more than to live together without fear.”
Prasanna Vengadam of Troy, president of South Asian American Voices for Impact (SAAVI), is also fasting. She said some Indian immigrants in metro Detroit who work in the computer and engineering industries are working for “high-tech sweatshops” who “don’t have a reasonable path to get a green card or citizenship.”
Seydi Sarr, of Detroit, an immigrant from Senegal, said reform is needed because “America is a nation of immigrants. It was built by immigrants.”
Raquel Garcia-Andersen, an immigrant organizer with Michigan United, said there is “a moral crisis” that needs to be resolved, noting that families are being separted due to deportations of undocumented immigrants.
http://www.mydesert.com/