Pat Barcas/staff photographer
Rudy Lopez, an organizer for the Center for Community Change, fasted for 22 days to draw attention to immigration reform. In 2005, his cousin illegally entered the U.S. and died in the desert. The man came to America for a job and better life for his family.
By Pat Barcas
Staff writer
Email Pat Barcas at pat@foxvalleylabornews.com
Thursday, Feb. 20, 2014
WESTERN SPRINGS — It’s politics as usual in Washington, but nearly eight months after the Senate approved an immigration bill, the House has yet to even call a vote on the issue, leaving the 11 million undocumented immigrants in this country in limbo.
“It’s truly a matter of time. This is not an ‘if’ scenario, it’s going to get done,” said Jon Carson, executive director of Organizing for Action, a democratic group that held a grassroots immigration meeting in Western Springs Feb. 15.
The group said it’s up to citizens to contact lawmakers to get a comprehensive immigration bill passed.
House Speaker John Boehner and House Republicans are caught in a quandary: They don’t want to agree to a bill they say will grant amnesty to those who came here illegally, but they have to appease Latinos, the fastest growing minority demographic in America. Boehner has recently said if a bill is passed, he does not trust President Obama to implement the law.
Carson said “Politically, we are at the one yard line,” and House Republicans have no shortage of policy ideas or political cover, but Republicans need a deadline date to pass immigration reform.
“That’s the piece we’re missing,” he said at the meeting.
Rudy Lopez, an organizer for the Center for Community Change, was a participant in the Fast For Families demonstration last November on the National Mall to draw attention to immigration reform.
He fasted for 22 days straight, surviving only on water. He said the experience changed him forever and he shared what that meant to him.
“Through sacrifice, there is a connection you make with others in the same situation,” he said. “Through fasting, we connected with millions in this country who are suffering.”
Lopez also shared the story of his own cousin, who attempted entry into the United States from Mexico illegally in 2005. His journey was not successful and he died in the desert.
He said his cousin faced a devastating decision: Stay in Mexico where his factory was closing and his job ending, or take the dangerous trek to America to look for work to feed his starving family. He chose the route to America, hiring a coyote to help him enter the border in Texas.
“When trouble arose, the coyote gave him two things — a gallon of water and a promise he’d return. He didn’t keep that promise,” said Lopez. “He died cold, hungry, and worst of all, alone. More than 400 people die this way each year,” said Lopez. “It doesn’t have to be that way. Immigration is not just a Latino issue, it’s an American issue.”