Activists in Georgia and across the nation are fasting in support of the passage of immigration overhaul legislation, hoping to ratchet up the pressure on Congress to act before the end of this month.
Critics say their campaign supports the violation of federal immigration laws.
Son Ah Yun of Smyrna and others are drinking only water and going without food for 48 hours. Among other things, they are pushing for a pathway to citizenship for immigrants living illegally in the U.S.
Hundreds of other activists across the country have joined the fasting, according to immigrant rights groups.
Yun said her efforts don’t compare to those of other activists who have fasted for weeks in support of the same cause. Among them is Eliseo Medina, a former international secretary-treasurer of the Service Employees International Union. President Barack Obama and first lady Michelle Obama met with Medina and other activists Friday in Washington. Medina ended his fast Tuesday at an event in front of the U.S. Capitol. Other activists have picked up where he left off.
The Democratic-controlled U.S. Senate passed comprehensive immigration legislation on a bipartisan vote in June. That legislation is now stalled in the Republican-led House, which is taking a piecemeal approach with smaller immigration bills. With the holidays fast approaching, observers say it is unlikely Congress will take final action on major immigration legislation before the end of this year.
A naturalized U.S. citizen who was born in South Korea, Yun started fasting Monday and plans to finish Wednesday. She said she has kept herself busy so she won’t think about eating.
“As an immigrant myself, I really believe in this issue,” said Yun, a campaign organizer for the Center for Community Change, a Washington-based group that helps poor people organize and improve their communities. “We are not just talking about other people’s families. We are talking about my family.”
John Litland, a Marietta resident and member of the Dustin Inman Society — which supports the enforcement of federal immigration laws — said the fasting “in essence is supporting breaking our laws.” Immigrants, he said, should come to the U.S. legally, as did his Austrian-born wife, a green card-holder.
“The tactic they should be taking is going to their representatives and getting [the government] to enforce the current laws,” he said. “Why do we need new laws if we have existing laws and nobody is enforcing them?”
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