Press Release
Immediate Release:
March, 5 2014
Contact:
Emily Kessel, NAKASEC, eakessel@nakasec.org,
Inhe Choi, NAKASEC, inhe@nakasec.org
“Fast for Families Across America” Covers its Ground in Three Arizona Cities and Enters Washington State
Washington DC – On Monday, March 3, the Fast for Families Across America Tour made three consecutive stops in Arizona and prepared for a three-day touring spree in Washington. The southern bus stopped in Glendale, Phoenix, and Gilbert, and the northern bus began its drive from Bend, Oregon to Vancouver, Washington.
The southern route began the day with a community breakfast with over 20 local leaders in Glendale, Arizona to engage in a dialogue about the various strategies for accomplishing commonsense immigration reform. Fast for Families leaders, Eliseo Medina (SEIU) and Cristian Aliva (Mi Familia Vota) spoke about the goals of Fast for Families. Participants also discussed the value of key temporary measures such as Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA). Inhe Choi (NAKASEC), who has been on the southern bus since Sunday, also emphasized NAKASEC’s commitment to working with the Latino and broader immigrant community to improve the lives of immigrants by passing a humane commonsense immigrant reform.
Donna Cheung, a member of the National Asian Pacific American Women’s Forum (NAPAWF) and the Japanese American Citizens League (JACL), as well as a constituent of Rep. Frank’s district, spoke at a morning press conference on the need to put an end to the suffering inflicted on families separated by the broken immigration system. “We urge Congressman Franks to act in faith of generosity and not in faith of punishment,” said Cheung.
She also raised questions about why Congress was not listening to the majority of American people, who are in agreement about the need to fix the broken immigration system, according to recent surveys.
Campaign Overview
On January 27, 2014, Fast for Families Across America launched its second phase with plans to visit over 100 Congressional districts in all. For one month, fly-ins was organized to reach over 25 key Congressional members. On February 24, 2014, the campaign kicked off its two-bus nationwide tour in Los Angeles. “Fast for Families” leaders DJ Yoon (NAKASEC) and Rudy Lopez (Fair Immigration Reform Movement) will travel on the northern route while leaders Eliseo Medina (SEIU) and Cristian Avila (Mi Familia Vota) will travel on the southern route for the entirety of the tour. Stopping at more than 75 districts with daily events calling for Congressional action on immigration reform, the two buses will meet in Washington DC in April.
“Fast for Families” reignited the immigration debate last November when Eliseo Medina (SEIU), DJ Yoon (NAKASEC), Rudy Lopez (FIRM) and Cristian Avila (Mi Familia Vota) —abstained from all food, except water for 22 days in the shadow of the U.S. Capitol on the National Mall. The campaign calls for Congressional action for just and humane immigration reform.
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Fast for Families” video can be found here and at http://www.fast4families.org/pressvideo
Visit www.fast4families.org for more information.
The National Korean American Service & Education Consortium (NAKASEC) was founded in 1994 by local community centers to project a progressive voice and promote the full participation of Korean Americans on major social justice issues. NAKASEC maintains offices in Annandale, Virginia and Los Angeles, California. NAKASEC has affiliates in Chicago (Korean American Resource & Cultural Center) and Los Angeles (Korean Resource Center).
