'Ni Una Mas' Migrants fast to end brutal US immigration policies

By Brenda Norrell
Censored News
http://www.bsnorrell.blogspot.com

TUCSON -- Speaking out against brutal US policies that are destroying families and lives, a group of community members ended their five-day fast today with these words: "Not one more deportation, not one more detention, not one more death on the border."

Speakers said that the act of fasting has amplified the message here of community members, carried by the media, and means that people are not suffering in silence. The fast has been keeping the struggle of resistance alive.

Those fasting said they came from Chiapas and Sonora in Mexico, and Honduras, and expressed gratitude for the support they received. While they were fasting, children and youth attended the School of Liberation, offering them the means to cope with the devastation of families, and to combat living lives of fear.

During the Saturday program at Southside, the children sang songs calling for a world without borders.

Immigration raids have left families separated, and children without parents, some of whom who have disappeared into the US foster care and adoption systems. At the same time, migrants, desperate for work, continue to die in the Sonoran desert of southern Arizona.

Earlier, the Tucson Protection Network Coalition joined the National Fast Campaign “Not One More." The Protection Network Coalition’s goal is to highlight how the immigration raids and deportations continue to separate families across the country. 

“We fast in solidarity with all of those who are facing deportation proceedings, all of those who have been separated from their families and all of those who have been ripped apart from their communities. We fast to say not one more deportation," said Eleazar Castellanos, a 46 year-old community leader at the Southside Worker Center and a fasting participant. The group’s spiritual fast is one of a series of travelling fasts that have been taking place nationwide. Communities in California, Oregon, New York and Florida have also participated in the national fast. The campaign is expected to end in Washington, D.C. during the last week of July, the campaign said.

The Not One More fast aims to have national and local impact. On a national level, the community members who will be fasting are calling on President Obama to immediately suspend deportations. They are also demanding Congress to pass an immigration reform that is inclusive of all 11 million undocumented people in the United States, and to stop the militarization of the US-Mexico border. On a local level, the Tucson community demands local law enforcement to stop collaborating with immigration law enforcement. Police and Border Patrol collaboration continues to divide families and terrorize communities in Tucson and across the country on a daily basis, the campaign said.



https://www.facebook.com/events/138174623048100/?fref=ts

More information on the National Fast available at: www.notonemoredeportation.com.

La Coalición de Redes de Protección de Tucson se une al Ayuno Nacional: Ni Una Deportación Mas
5 de Julio de 2013
PARA DIFUSION INMEDIATA
Contacto: (939)579-3534, Protection.Network.Coalition@gmail.com
Tucson, Arizona - Mientras la Cámara de Representantes continua debatiendo el proyecto de ley de la Reforma Migratoria y avanzan con políticas de militarización anti-migrantes que continuaran dañando y destruyendo nuestra comunidad, varios miembros de la comunidad de Tucson estarán llevando a cabo una jornada de ayuno que comenzara el Martes 16 de Julio y terminara el Sábado 20 de Julio de 2013. El objetivo de la Coalición de Redes de Protección de Tucson es destacar como las redadas de inmigración y las deportaciones continúan destruyendo familias alrededor de los Estados Unidos.
“Ayunamos en solidaridad con todas las personas que se encuentran en proceso de deportación, con todos aquellos que han sido separados/as de sus familias y arrebatados/as de sus comunidades. Ayunamos para decir ni una deportación más” declaró Eleazar Castellanos, líder comunitario del Centro de Trabajadores del Sur de Tucson quien estará ayunando. Dicho ayuno es parte de una jornada nacional que se ha estado llevando a cabo a lo largo de Estados Unidos. Comunidades en California, Oregon, Nueva York y Florida han participado en el ayuno nacional. Se espera que la jornada de ayunos culmine en Washington, D.C. durante la última semana de Julio.
La Coalición de Redes de Protección de Tucson espera que la campaña tenga un impacto nacional y local. A nivel nacional, la comunidad le exige al Presidente Obama un alto inmediato a las deportaciones. A su vez, le hacen un llamado a la Cámara de Representantes que pasen una Reforma Migratoria Comprensiva que incluya a los 11 millones de indocumentados/as en Estados Unidos y que se pare la militarización en la frontera entre Estados Unidos y México. A nivel local, la comunidad de Tucson le exige a las autoridades locales que paren la colaboración con la Patrulla Fronteriza. La colaboración entre la Policía de Tucson y la Patrulla Fronteriza continúa dividiendo y aterrorizando la comunidad de Tucson a diario.
Una Conferencia de Prensa tendrá lugar en la Iglesia Presbiteriana en Southside el 16 de Julio a las 11:00 AM (at 317 W. 23rd St.) La misma será el comienzo de las actividades y eventos programadas para la semana del 16 al 20 de Julio.
Para ver el programa de actividades y eventos en Tucson del 16 al 20 de Julio visite nuestra página: https://www.facebook.com/events/138174623048100/?fref=ts