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On March 23, I joined with a group of fellow immigrants, as well as brothers and sisters in solidarity with the immigrants, who had been on hunger strike since March 21, in front of the Federal Building in San Francisco. We were part of a wave of millions of students, workers and solidarity activists who took action to stand up for immigrant rights.

But what is happening? Why are immigrants mobilizing and taking to the streets in ever increasing numbers?

These protests were to call attention to the inhumane Senate bill that was up for vote that would parallel the Sensenbrenner bill (H.R. 4437) which was approved by the House of Representatives last December. The bill would criminalize undocumented immigrants, as well as those who help them and would further militarize the border by building a 700 mile wall between Mexico and the United States. (See www.immigrantrights.org for more details on this bill.)

The first day of the hunger strike was easy, but I asked myself, as I later worked in the office, if I would have the strength to continue the following day.

The next day, March 24, was the 26 th Anniversary of the assassination of Monseñor Oscar Romero, and I felt his spirit, the support of our prophet and martyr, and I knew that I would dedicate one more day of fasting in his honor and in memory of all those who have struggled for justice. I am convinced that if Romero were here today, he would be at our side, on the side of the immigrants, of these people that the law seeks to punish and crucify only for the sole crime of searching for a better life.

Romero transformed my life. And he transformed the lives of so many by his example of working for justice, following in Jesus’ footsteps, and walking side-by-side with the poor. This is the sustaining hope of those of use who search for the opportunity to work and be able to survive in peace.

Romero spoke these words while he baptized a group of children displaced by El Salvador’s civil war:

Each one of you must be God’s microphone. Each of you must be a messenger, a prophet. (July 8, 1979)

These words are also a call to each of us to take responsibility and to stand in solidarity with those who are most vulnerable and in need.

The rain was intermittent at the site of the hunger strike. The wind threatened to blow away our little tents, and the cold torrents of water soaked our sheets through and through. It seemed as if we wouldn’t be able to stay there even one more day. But the courage and the strength of the struggle kept us united. Maria, a 60-year-old woman, was our inspiration. She made it through the third day, which is the most difficult, and she encouraged us not to give up, to keep on struggling because we were not alone.

We were there in struggle with twelve million other immigrants.

On March 17, a large group of us went to the office of Senator Diane Feinstein. We presented a petition with more than twelve thousand signatures that we had collected during the strike asking her to vote against the repressive bill.

This country is built upon the labor of immigrants, and today they are those who do the hardest, back-breaking work. They pay taxes yet often do not receive any benefits and live in bleak conditions. These are immigrants, the workers. They are not criminals, but rather take the jobs that no one else wants to do.

Please continue the struggle for the human and legal rights of immigrants. We didn’t cross the border; the border crossed us.

In Solidarity,

Teresa Cruz, Development Associate

.S. On May 1 st a Day without Immigrants is being organized on an international level. On this day, we ask immigrants and those in solidarity not to go to work, not to buy anything, and thus to show our support of all the immigrants who are struggling for documentation and fair treatment at work.