The Fast for Our Families is starting today...and

Hey folks,

So the Fast is starting today and we already have two actions in solidarity in New York and New Hampshire!!! Last night, some of the folks taking the fast had their last meal with the students going on the Trail of DREAMS. We are truly one big family fighting for our communities. More on that later. We are anxious, nervous, and hungry for justice for our families and communities. Keep you posted soon.

Info about solidarity actions:
New Hampshire-for more info, visit www.OBFThePeople.org

I am a 60 year old mother and grandmother whose family came here as immigrants. From 1632 into the 1800s they came to this land to live their lives in a free and just society. They built towns and cities in Massachusetts, helped to forge a new government and dedicated their lives to preserving a dream of Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness for themselves and for all who lived after them in the United States of America.

I am one of their descendants for whom that dream has been destroyed through the actions of the Department of Homeland Security's Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE). The day before Thanksgiving, 2008, a loving father, close friend and valued member of our community was taken from us and thrown into immigration detention. He remains there to this day, doing hard time, but having committed no crime, as our government decides if they will deport him to Eastern Europe, thus removing him forever from his children's and from all of our lives. My efforts to free him and bring him home to his citizen children have so far done nothing more than torture me emotionally and endanger me financially. I have been thrown into an American nightmare which I did not know could exist in this country and from which there seems to be no awakening.

I have learned through the struggles of this last year that I am not alone. Each year hundreds of thousands of immigrants and a million or more United States citizens are subjected to the brutal torture that is our current immigration system. And so I will fast in solidarity with those taking part in the Fast for Our Families. I will not eat any solid food begin January 1st and continue tentatively through January 7th . . . I pray that by that time the rule of human rights will have begun to overturn the rule of brute force and progress will have been made toward preserving the sanctity of our families and protecting the needs and safety of our children. My heart, my support and my prayers are with the members of Fast for Our Families in South Florida for whom these intolerable circumstances have forced them to take such extreme measures. May your message finally be heard and understood.

Deborah Sherman de Santos

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New York-for more info visit http://www.newsanctuarynyc.org/jean.php
12pm January 1st 2010
Contact:
Juan Carlos Ruiz, 347-563-3483 (English and Spanish)
Angad Bhalla, 646-637-5609 (English, Hindi and French)

Kids to Immigration: 2010 New Years Resolution -STOP TAKING OUR PARENTS AWAY

Children of detained immigrant leader Jean Montrevil demand his release and
support youth from across the country demanding an end to deportations

WHAT: On December 30th, ICE detained for deportation to Haiti Jean
Montrevil a green card holding immigrant since 1986, father of four U.S.
citizen children and renowned immigrant rights activist. In solidarity
with immigrant youth in Florida who are ringing in the new year by walking
to DC and others embarking on an indefinite fast, Jean’s children will
demand their father is released and that the laws change so families are
no longer torn apart. Clergy and community members will join the youth’s
cries through vows of fasting and other forms of resistance until the
children’s demands are met.

WHO: Jani Montrevil (wife of detained immigrant leader Jean Montrevil)
Janiah Montrevil (Jean Montrevil’s 11-year-old daughter)
50 Additional children of affected immigrants and concerned community
members
Rev. Robert B. Coleman, Chief Program Minister, The Riverside Church
Rev. Giovanny Sanchez, Senior Minister, Lutheran Church of the Holy Spirit

WHEN: Friday, January 1st, at 12pm

WHERE: Judson Memorial Church
55 Washington Square South
New York, NY 10012
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We'll keep you posted with more info...keep us all in your thoughts