For Immediate Release: Tuesday, Nov. 26, 2013

Contact:
For English language Media:
Donna De La Cruz, ddelacr[email protected], 202-339-9331, 202-441-3798 (cell)
For Spanish language Media:
Ricardo Ramírez, rramir[email protected], 202-339-9371, 202-905-1738 (cell)

(WASHINGTON)—Fair Immigration Reform Movement (FIRM) groups nationwide are participating in the “Fast for Families” to support comprehensive immigration reform. The fast began on Nov. 12 in Washington, DC, but support for the fasters has prompted nationwide solidarity events including over a dozen led by FIRM groups.

“FIRM is proud and honored to join the fast, in part to send a message to  Members of Congress who have steadfastly refused to support immigration reform with a vote this year that going without food is a small sacrifice to make in order to achieve comprehensive immigration reform for 11 million undocumented people,” said FIRM spokesperson Kica Matos. “FIRM members know all too well how much heartbreak and suffering millions of families have endured under the current broken immigration system.”

Some fasters, including DJ Yoon, Executive Director of the National Korean American Service & Education Consortium (NAKASEC), began fasting on Nov. 12. NAKASEC is a FIRM member. Gina Sanchez, a member of the FIRM group Promise Arizona (PAZ), Lucy Tzunun of the FIRM group Make The Road New York, and SJ Jung of the FIRM group New York Immigration Coalition were also among the initial fasters.

FIRM groups participating in the fast this week and next week are: the Center for Community Change; Michigan United; the Coalition for Humane Immigrant Rights of Los Angeles (CHIRLA); Promise Arizona; the Illinois Coalition for Immigrant and Refugee Rights (ICIRR); CASA de Maryland; OneAmerica in Washington state; Voces de la Frontera in Wisconsin; the Florida Immigrant Coalition (FLIC); the Massachusetts Immigrant and Refugee Advocacy Coalition (MIRA); New York Immigration Coalition (NYIC); Make the Road New York; Idaho Community Action Network; Colorado Immigrant Rights Coalition; Causa Oregon; Pineros y Campesinos Unidos del Noroeste; and the Tennessee Immigrant Rights and Refugee Coalition.

“I am joining the fast because the courage and sacrifice of the fasters is inspiring me as much as it is putting Congress’ inaction to shame,” said Maria Rodriguez, Executive Director of FLIC.

“A small sacrifice on our part is meant to send a strong message to the rest of America that our broken and cruel immigration system can be fixed but politics is the only thing standing in the way,” stated Angelica Salas, Executive Director for CHIRLA.

For more information on the fast, go to http://fast4families.org/

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