This Press Release was found on another site and is posted here for awareness.
Press Conference
DATE: Tuesday, July 12
TIME: 10am
WHERE: Hunger Strike HQ, 6143 Mableton Parkway, Mableton, GA 30126 (Yellow House next to Shell Gas Station)
CONTACT: Rich Pellegrino, Director of the Cobb Immigrant Alliance (CIA)
ORGANIZATION: Cobb Immigrant Alliance
VOICE PHONE NUMBER: 404-573-1199
CONTACT: Rich Pellegrino, Director of the Cobb Immigrant Alliance (CIA)
ORGANIZATION: Cobb Immigrant Alliance
VOICE PHONE NUMBER: 404-573-1199
For Immediate Release:
Hunger Strike In Protest to HB87 by Mableton Men
Mableton , Georgia – July 11, 2011-
Two middle-aged Hispanic men began a hunger strike protest on July 1st, the day HB 87 took effect in Georgia .
From their small, oppressively hot, and airless Mableton apartment, Martin Altamirano and Salvador Zamora sip water and talk.
They explain why they believe they had no other non-violent option in raising immigration reform awareness than to use their bodies.
Martin, a small, dark, curly-haired mechanic, was born in Honduras . He came to the United States following the politically inspired murder of two friends, one a professor, the other his co-worker in the Red Cross.
Granted temporary permanent status after applying for asylum, Martin had to leave his daughters, who were not included in his visa papers. He says that he is fasting for them, as well as for all undocumented brothers and sisters.
Tall and resplendent in white shirt and trousers, Salvador ’s eyes reflect the weight and pain he feels for the 11 million undocumented people living in the United States .
Softly, with a quiet voice, he patiently tells his story. Salvador left his family as an adventurous teenager wanting to make money and to have a better life. At 16 he toiled long, hot days in California tomato fields.
Then in 1986, President Ronald Reagan signed an immigration bill allowing him to pursue citizenship.
A debilitating accident some years later left the arms of this six-foot plus man weakened, to the point he can no longer work as a field hand.
Salvador ’s strength lies in his passion to provide others the same opportunities President Reagan gave him.
He met Martin several months ago in Washington , D.C. after finishing a 3,000 mile walk from California to the White House. His walk was a solitary effort to raise immigration reform awareness along the route. Eight pairs of shoes later he reached the Capital. The trek took months, and when the snow-covered ground was too cold to sleep on, his brother joined him with a van.
Driven to desperation and grieving over Georgia ’s brutal anti-immigrant bill, Salvador and Martin spent hours laboriously writing out the purpose and goals of their hunger strike.
The goal is to focus on reform instead of the current enforcement-only, harsh approach endorsed by Arizona , Georgia , Alabama , and other incarceration- minded states. They challenge the media to investigate police and prison/detention systems, questioning if Governor Nathan Deal and Republican legislators receive political contributions from the Corrections Corporation of America (CCA). The CCA houses, at taxpayer expense, a for-profit prison system.
In addition, their goals include community dialogue and education to acknowledge that everyone has gained and benefitted from immigrant laborers and their families.
Hopefully, they men think that these strong family units will continue to add to the economy and future of the America .
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Statement of Hunger Strike Purpose:
We, Martin Altamirano and Salvador Zamora, are on a hunger strike. Left with no alternative, we now sacrifice our bodies, because we firmly believe HB 87, is a hateful anti-immigrant law aimed at us and our brothers and sisters.
We believe undocumented people are a SOCIAL issue, not a political banner.
We believe human status should not be used to get votes by Governor Nathan Deal and Georgia legislators with a purpose to inflict fear and suffering on others.
We challenge the enforcement only mentality of our Legislators, Governor and President Obama by calling attention to this pain and fear it causes us and our brothers and sisters.
We believe these laws are immoral and they empower police to become oppressors and use racial profiling tactics.
Enough is enough, for us.
GOALS:
1. Work Towards Immigration Reform Awareness
- Solve the outdated immigration system at the national level for a just, fair, and practical plan.
- Facts: 11 million people are undocumented, and 4 million children in the United States have one undocumented parent.
- Halt the “enforcement only” policy used by Homeland Security, the Obama Administration, and Georgia ’s HB 87 passed by Governor Nathan Deal and the Republican legislature.
2. Work Towards Passage of the Dream Act
- Pass the Dream Act to allow students an opportunity to give back to society through higher education or military service and earn citizenship. Without the Dream Act, after high school they are relegated to an underground life depriving everyone of their talents, skills, and enthusiasm.
3. Halt Neighborhood and Worksite Raids and Round-ups
- Bring awareness of Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), actions that encourage local police to abandon crime prevention and arrest for work that is a federal responsibility.
- ICE agent behaviors appear synonymous with Gestapo tactics in attitude and armament, and it seems to be an attempt to ethnically cleanse communities of Hispanic people.
- Bring awareness to the fact that being in the United States unlawfully is a civil violation, not a criminal violation.
- Raid brutality ensnares everyone under the guise of hunting dangerous criminals. The fallout strips communities of tax revenues; bills go unpaid, homes and apartments are abandoned as families are forcefully separated
4. Encourage Better Understanding of Police and Legal Systems
- Bring awareness to these facts:
1. Driving without a license is a misdemeanor, not a felony.
2. Overstaying a visa is a misdemeanor, not a felony.
3. Undocumentation is not a criminal offense.
4. Unlawful presence in the United States is a civil violation, not a criminal violation.
5. Entering the United States without a visa is a misdemeanor, not a felony.
- Racial profiling and discrimination are by-products of laws like HB 87.
- Immigrant communities do not have a higher crime rate than non-immigrant communities.
- Detained individuals, most of whom are not dangerous criminals, and their families, should be treated with dignity; including affordable telephone contact, visitations, legal access, and other human rights.
5. Expose the Corrections Corporation of America (CCA)
- Ask local media to investigate the cost of CCA in taxes to communities, states and federal government.
- Facts:
1. The CCA (which is a privately-owned, for-profit organization) promotes itself to small rural communities as a business to bring jobs and boost local economies. Many communities find personnel are hired elsewhere and when brought in are considered “bullies and undesirables” in once cohesive, quiet towns.
2. The CCA abandons sites, leaving local taxpayers footing community bond bills that had been raised for the building of the prisons/detention centers.
- Ask the local media to investigate CCA political donations.
- Ask local media to investigate the CCA detention centers and local jails where men and women are spirited away during the night without warning to their lawyers, families, or themselves.
5. Educate Local Communities and Leaders with Facts, and Put a Face and Name on Immigrant Neighbors.
- Participate in town hall meetings to educate communities about the contributions the undocumented have made through sales taxes, small businesses, home ownership or apartment rentals.
6. Open Dialogue with Community Leaders and Elected Officials.
- Ask community leaders if they are committing economic suicide.
- Ask if the fallow strip malls where mom and pop stores once thrived are good for their community’s appearance and tax revenue.
- Ask if the withered empty apartments and rental properties bode well for attracting new tenants and businesses.
7. Ask Why the HATE?