Editor's note: This is the first in a series of articles on comprehensive immigration reform.

Local parishes have begun a month-long fast and prayer for comprehensive immigration reform and to oppose harsh legislation that would criminalize undocumented immigrants and those who help them.

Several hundred school children, parents, priests, religious, lay ministers, community organizers and San Gabriel Region Auxiliary Bishop Gabino Zavala gathered at Dolores Mission Church in Boyle Heights Feb. 1 to announce the communal fast.

"We are calling and inviting our community to initiate a month of fasting and prayer," said Bishop Zavala, in the hopes of persuading U.S. Senators to oppose HR 4437, a bill that would make illegal presence in the U.S. a crime, rather than the civil offense it is now. Estimates are that some 11 million immigrants are undocumented.

The bill also would criminalize the actions of doctors, teachers, social workers and ministers who aid undocumented immigrants at Catholic social agencies, hospitals, schools and parishes. Many could face criminal felony charges and penalties including forfeiture of assets and jail terms from three to 20 years. The House of Representatives passed the legislation in December, and the Senate is expected to take up the issue this month.

Pastors and ministers at Dolores Mission Church could face criminal charges if they continue to provide shelter, food and medicine to immigrant homeless men as they have for the past 17 years.

And children who attend the parish school could face a painful separation from their parents who remain undocumented and could face deportation although their children were born in the United States.

Jessica Castillo, a 12-year-old seventh grader at Dolores Mission School, said she fears being separated from her mother. She and her brother were born in the U.S., but her mother, a child-care worker from Mexico, hasn't been able to legalize her status in 15 years, because she doesn't have any immediate adult relatives who could sponsor her.

"My mom means everything to us, and I think it would be unjust for this law to break us apart," said Jessica. "I could never imagine being far away from her, especially without her protection and love."

Jessica's mother Maria Gomez told The Tidings she wants to remain in the U.S. for the well-being and education of her children. "Why not give immigrants an opportunity to progress here and help the country here?" asked Gomez in Spanish. "We come to work and to improve our lives."

According to the Pew Hispanic Center, a nonpartisan research center based in Washington D.C., one in seven undocumented immigrants is a minor. And for every undocumented child there are two U.S. born children who have at least one undocumented parent.

Opponents of HR 4437 --- the Border Protection, Anti-Terrorism and Illegal Immigration Control Act of 2005, sponsored by Rep. F. James Sensenbrenner Jr. (R-Wis.) --- say it does not make sense to criminalize working families and those who help them.

"This bill in many ways says that any undocumented immigrant who is here is a terrorist, and I think that this is not true," said Bishop Zavala. "I commit myself to fast and to pray this month as a testimony to my opposition to the Sensenbrenner bill which would have an extremely punitive and harmful effect on our community, and to advocate for comprehensive immigrant reform that recognizes and values the God-given dignity and rights of every human person."

Spiritual fasting
As the country this week honored the non-violent social change legacy of Coretta Scott King, immigrant families and their allies said they are prepared to continue to use spiritual fasting and prayer to bring about humane immigration reform.

About 1,000 parishioners out of some 2,500 have signed up for the chain fast in which they have agreed to reduce their intake of food one day a week for the month of February. Staff meetings no longer include food.

"There's power in the fast," Jesuit Father Mike Kennedy, pastor of Dolores Mission Church told The Tidings. "It connects you very deeply to God and to what you are fasting for. It raises people's consciousness that people are willing to have their bodies feel this issue all day."

Parishioners said their commitment to helping immigrant families in need has biblical roots, particularly Exodus 23:9 --- "Do not mistreat a foreigner; you know how it feels to be a foreigner, because you were foreigners in Egypt."

Since the Dolores Mission fast became televised, the parish has been receiving e-mails from others around the country wanting to join in, along with two local Episcopal churches. Catholic prison chaplains of the Archdiocese of Los Angeles have agreed to fast. Other San Gabriel Region parishes have responded to Bishop Zavala's invitation to prayer and fasting for immigrant justice, including St. Martha Church in Valinda and St. Stephen Church in Monterey Park.

While discussion of immigration reform often engenders controversy and adversarial arguments within communities, Father Kennedy said he hoped that parishes are in a unique position to create safe prayerful spaces for dialogue and education in an atmosphere of respect for all involved.

Immigration reform advocates point to the growing need for legislation that overhauls a patchwork of complex and confusing immigration laws. They advocate balancing border security with humane legal pathways for migrant workers and their families.

Reform also would include reunification priority for families that have been separated or face separation because of mixed immigration status. A legal labor program would provide opportunities for immigrants to enter the United States as laborers, and labor protections would protect immigrant workers from abuse, exploitation, discrimination and protect basic human rights.

In January Cardinal Roger Mahony called for an archdiocesan-wide effort to oppose HR4437. Nationally, the U.S. bishops have launched an education and advocacy campaign on behalf of comprehensive immigration reform.

For more information about the national Catholic campaign for immigration reform, see www.justiceforimmigrants.org.