FAMILY FAST

As national lawmakers consider bills to reform the United States’ immigration laws, a group of immigration reform advocates is using its members’ bodies as a form of protest. Fast For Families, a coalition of proreform religious organizations, asks its members to refrain from eating until Congress passes a reform bill. The group visited Springfi eld last week in a large touring bus emblazoned with their insignia, demonstrating in front of the Illinois Statehouse’s Lincoln statue. Among other things, the group demands a path to citizenship for the estimated 11 million noncitizen immigrants in America. In a variety of different languages, the crowd of about 100 people chanted, “The people united will never be defeated,” led by Fast For Families co-founder Dae Joong Yoon, a Korean-American man who immigrated to the U.S. at a young age. The bill pushed by Fast For Families is S.744, which passed the U.S. Senate in June but has not passed the U.S. House. The demonstrators are making stops across the nation, with the stop in Springfi eld aimed at convincing U.S. Rep. Aaron Schock, R-Peoria, to support the bill.