Recap: Considering that three-quarters of immigrants to the United States are women and children, more than 1,200 women from 70 organizations are fasting in 35 states for immigration reform that keeps families together and treats women fairly.
The month of fasting will culminate April 7-9th when 100 women will fast in DC for 48 hours.
Every day this week, MomsRising.org will share stories by the fasters here with the Daily Kos community. To see the first two installment of stories, click here and here. Please show your support for the fasters in the comments section below and sign this MoveOn petition urging Speaker Boehner to meet with these courageous women!
Below the fold are a few testimonials by women in California and Washington state on why they partook in the fast this month. The photo on the right is that of one Pramila Jayapal, founder of the One America immigrant rights group and co-chair of the We Belong Together women's coalition, which is coordinating the nationwide fast.
Pramila Jayapal, Washington, "I Am a Mother and an Immigrant"
"In the few hours that I stood in front of the detention center gates, I knew that hundreds of families were being torn apart by deportation. Every day, 1,100 people are deported, leaving children without parents, husbands without wives, grandmothers without grandkids."
Lynne Dodson, Washington, "I am fasting for families"
"Being at the GEO Group’s privately run detention center meant we were there to bear witness to some of the stories of family members and detainees. We heard from a woman who was leaving the center with two little girls – frustrated because she was bringing them to visit their father, pulled from his home of 23 years; they heard he had until April 16 to get his papers together. He was deported, without warning, the night before. We listened to the disabled young mother tell about coming to meet with her husband, a 15 year US resident and his lawyer, only to find him gone. Deported the night before. She’s left with an infant and a toddler, their family’s primary source of income, gone."
The following testimonial is in Spanish, followed by (my) English translation:
Ines Lazarte, California, "Le Exigo al Presidente que Cumpla sus Promesas"
"Mañana estamos entrando en huelga de hambre por una causa justa que es LA REFORMA MIGRATORIA. Exigimos al presidente Obama que cumpla lo que prometió cuando entró de presidente, y lo que está haciendo es todo lo contrario, deportando a tanta gente, separando familias sin compasión de los niños que se quedan al amparo de DIOS."
Translation: "Tomorrow we are going on a hunger strike for a just cause, which is IMMIGRATION REFORM. We demand that President Obama complete what he promised upon entering the presidency, and that what he is doing is the opposite, deporting a lot of people, separating families without compassion for the kids who remain in GOD's protection."