This is a guest post from Grecia Lima, organizer with the Center for Community Change.
What do two business owners, a grandmother and a 5th generation Arizonian all have in common? They all are fasting for four days in support of immigration reform!
Sunday marked the first day of their fast. Cesar Alcaraz is a self-employed realtor and decided to go on this fast because of his vision for the economic future of this state. "I saw how much our state suffered economically after SB1070 was signed into law, so many people left and our business declined. I want for our state to go back to what it used to be before, and we can only do this if we recognize that bringing workers out of the shadows is important for our economic recovery".
Gina Sanchez owns a small business that she has operated ever since she came to this country and is participating on this fast to show urgency for her family. "I am doing this for my daughters and my son; I want to be reunited with my family. I contribute to this economy and I want for my contributions to count, my family deserves to be united".
Patricia Rosas knows exactly what it is like to be separated from her family. "I am grandmother but I helped my daughter raised her children ever since they were babies, after the SB1070 passed she left because she was scared that a police would pull her over and deport her. My daughter still lives in the United States but it is really hard for me to see her. My family is still separated and I am doing this fast because I want to keep all families together and for McCain and Flake to understand that our families are suffering and that we need a bill soon."
"I am in solidarity with our undocumented brothers and sisters. I am fasting so that they know that we are together in this fight, we are talking about families and I have my family and I can talk to them every time I want, but 11 million people don't have that privilege. This fast is about a choice, we are choosing not to eat for four days but these next two weeks we will be asking our Senators to make a choice - the right choice for immigration reform" said Petra Falcon, 5th generation Arizonian and Executive Director of Promise Arizona who is also doing the fast for 4 days.
You can follow their journey at @PromiseArizona.