Massachusetts Fasters Say "Not One More Deportation"

This past week, workers and community members across Massachusetts participated in days of fasting to denounce the detention and deportation of 400,000 immigrants each year and to stand in solidarity with affected families. The action is part of the National Fast to Say "Not One More Deportation," and coincides with a New England-wide week of actions against deportations.

Zion and Israel come out for the week of action to help protest 

the planned deportation of their father.

Many of the fasters have been directly affected by detention and deportation within their own families. Vivian Deleon, a 19-year-old student from Lynn, MA, has been separated from her father for two years, following his deportation back to her home country of Guatemala. Renata Teodoro, now 25, has been separated from her parents since 2007, when they were detained and deported following a raid on her home.

We made signs to prepare for the fast!

Rather than focusing on their own suffering, these young women are fasting this week to show their solidarity with the millions of immigrants that are working hard to support their families, but suffer as a result of restrictive immigration policies. As Vivian puts it, "I decided to fast as a symbol of the sacrifice that parents have made for their kids to give them a better life, just like my parents did." Renata states that she decided to fast because, "Giving up food for a day is nothing compared to what undocumented people go through in detention."

For immigrant activists and community organizers, fasting also provides an important opportunity to reflect on what really matters in their work. As Monique Nguyen, director of MataHari, an organization of immigrant domestic workers, describes, "Fasting has given me the opportunity to be very reflective about families and communities being terrorized by detention-deportations." Alan Pelaez, of the Queer Undocumented Immigrant Project (QUIP) noted that while fasting, "Being hungry all day was constantly reminding me of everything that's going on."

Alan and Laura at the press conference announcing the fast and week of action.

While each fasters' specific motivation is distinct, they are unified in calling for an end to the separation and suffering of detainees and families. Laura Gonzalez decided to extend her fast from one day to the entire week, while attending a rally outside of Suffolk Detention Facility, and watching as detainees reached through the cell bars on their windows, struggling to communicate via paper signs and hand signals with their families, who stood amongst a crowd of supporters on the other side of a busy highway.

Protestors send messages to the detainees...

And the people in detention respond with their own messages.

Here, one man holds up a sign saying that he's been in detention for 7 years.

Alan was also deeply moved by his experience at the detention center, and emphasized the importance of standing in solidarity with detainees and families in the fight to end deportations. "We all understand what's going on, but they know it best," he stated. And he echoed the spirit of the fast by making a call to action: "We can never forget the messages we heard from the detainees today. We cannot ignore their plea."