MiddletownJournal.com

HAMILTON — More than a dozen people rallied late Wednesday afternoon, Oct. 29, to urge those running for — or already in — political office to take a stand for comprehensive reform of U.S. immigration laws.

That includes a way for immigrants to live and work here legally, said rally organizer Sister Alice Gerdeman.

"If you're an immigrant, you are a human being and human beings have basic human rights," Gerdeman said. "If we had an immigration law that worked here in the United States, that was fair, that gave people the opportunity to be here legally, or people who are here in order to become legal, then I think you'd have a good argument.

"Right now our immigration law is totally broken."

The hour-long rally took place on Hanover Street near the Butler County Jail, which serves as a detention center for undocumented people being held by Immigration and Customs Enforcement.

Sponsored by the Intercommunity Justice and Peace Center, the event found several participants fasting in varying increments in solidarity with more than 100 people in La Placita Olvera in Los Angeles

Gerdeman said the hunger strike – one of the largest in U.S. history – was organized by The Rise Movement, a nonviolent wing of the immigrant rights movement. Fasting began on Oct. 15 and aims to mobilize one million people to sign a pledge to vote and take action for immigrant rights.

Miami University junior Susan Dirr, 21, said U.S. immigration policy leads to "unnecessary heartache" for immigrants and their loved ones. Showing up for the rally was more than a matter of basic human rights for Dirr, it also was a personal issue – as she said her cousin's husband is in the country on amnesty from Chile.

"His lawyer has told him it's likely he'll be deported in 2010 if there are no changes in the immigration policy," Dirr said. "And he has a young daughter with my cousin, so that makes this issue very relevant to my daily life."