Obama visits protesters fasting over immigration
WASHINGTON — President Barack Obama on Friday told activists who are fasting to protest House inaction on immigration legislation that their “commitment to change” ultimately will help pressure lawmakers to act.
On the day after the Thanksgiving holiday, marked by an abundance of food, Obama stopped in at a
heated white tent on the National Mall where some activists, including one from Arizona, had ingested only water since Nov. 12 in support of immigration legislation.
Obama mentioned the activists in an immigration speech in San Francisco earlier this week. He delivered his message in person on Friday, accompanied by first lady Michelle Obama.
“I want everybody to know I remain optimistic that we’re going to get this done,” he said, according to video of his remarks. He said passage of an immigration bill is “more a question of when than if.”
“But I’d rather get this done sooner rather than later,” Obama said.
The White House issued a statement after the approximately 40-minute visit that said Obama thanked the hunger strikers “for their sacrifice and dedication and told them that the country is behind them on immigration reform.”
Organizers of the fast said Obama expressed concern for the health of the hunger strikers and held the shoe of an immigrant who died in the Arizona desert while trying to enter the U.S.
Cristian Avila, an Arizona activist among the 27 people fasting, said Obama’s visit “was very inspiring.”
“It gives us more hope when the president says he is pushing for immigration reform,” Avila said.
The Phoenix resident, a 23-year-old undocumented immigrant whose parents brought him to the U.S. illegally
‘‘ I want everybody to know I remain optimistic that we’re going to get this done.”
PRESIDENT BARACK OBAMA
Speaking about immigration reform
from Mexico as a child, had abstained from eating for 18 days. The Brophy College Preparatory graduate, who has lost more than 20 pounds, has vowed to continue fasting until doctors tell him he should stop.
House Speaker John Boehner, ROhio, has refused to schedule a vote on a comprehensive immigration measure the Senate passed this summer. The House prefers a piecemeal approach, but Boehner hasn’t said whether lawmakers will consider any bills this year or whether the issue will slip into next year, when midterm-election politics will make legislative action less likely.
The House has moved too slowly to satisfy immigration advocates, including those on the hunger strike as well as a man who shouted during an Obama speech in California for the president to stop separating families by deporting people living in the U.S. illegally.
Obama was the latest administration official to visit with the activists. Vice President Joe Biden, Cabinet secretaries and top White House advisers have also visited.