The first in a series of such actions nationwide, advocates for immigrant rights in Mountain View made their point this month by going without food and speaking to church congregations up and down the Peninsula.
Leading the effort was Maria Marroquin, director of Mountain View’s day worker center, one of 10 Mountain View residents who went without eating over an 11-day period to bring attention to the 11 million immigrants who still do not have a legal status in the United States.
Marroquin estimates that the group was able to reach over 2,000 people between May 1 and May 12 while stopping overnight in churches of various faiths from Los Altos to East Palo Alto and Foster City.
Speaking on March 14, she said the fast was “difficult” but “we touched many many people, we learned about the way that they worship.”
“It was an incredible incredible experience — pretty much all the pastors fasted with us,” she said.
Following prayers on May 8 at St. Anthanasius church, the group spoke to church members about their experience and what Marroquin called, “our humble request to spread the word and stop the deportations,” which now occur at a rate of more than 11,000 a day nationwide.