GRAND RAPIDS, MI – Lindsey Rosa says U.S. immigration laws hurt her family. Now, the Grand Rapids native is going hungry in a push for reforms.
Immigration advocates are promoting a rotating “Fast for Families,” asking people to go without food for a day and lobby congressmen for change. The West Michigan Coalition for Immigration Reform kicked off the local version of a national effort Wednesday, Dec. 18, at Fountain Street Church in Grand Rapids.
Click here to sign up for a fasting date.
“We’re asking for what we’ve always been asking for: humane immigration reform,” Rosa said. “As we go hungry for one day, we think about the suffering of individuals (separated from their families for years). We’ll keep going as long as people want to go.”
Rosa, 30, said she and her daughter were separated from her husband for two years as he was sent back to his native Honduras, and the emotional toil of that broke up their marriage. Wednesday, recognized by the United Nations as International Migrants Day, Rosa was one of about 25 people who gathered at the downtown church for an ecumenical service involving multiple faith traditions.
“Our (immigration) laws are not common sense,” said Kate Kooyman, a Christian Reformed immigration activist who talked about one of her husband’s math students crying in class over his dad’s deportation. “It’s not good for families.
“We need to pray to end this crazy system that we have.”
Mayor George Heartwell had been scheduled to attend, but instead sent a statement lauding the activists as “standing for the true America, the dream of the refugee, the beacon that draws the oppressed from afar and makes her willing to risk her life to be free.
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The coalition hopes that the U.S. House will consider immigration reform early next year, said Richard Kessler, a Grand Rapids immigration lawyer. Here’s the text of a form letter that the coalition is asking that people write to U.S. Reps. Justin Amash, R-Cascade Township, and Bill Huizenga, R-Zeeland:
Matt Vande Bunte covers government for MLive/Grand Rapids Press. Email him at mvandebu@mlive.com or follow him on Twitter and Facebook.