Fresno Immigrant Youth in Action (FIYA) is a grassroots community organization dedicated to empowering immigrant youth and families to advocate for immigrant rights. FIYA is also an affiliate of California Immigrant Youth Justice Alliance (CIYJA) and pride ourselves in being LGBTQ inclusive. Our goal in participating in this event is to bring VISIBILITY for FIYA and to create AWARENESS about our (Im)migrant community in the Central Valley and across the country. We will be focusing on the #Not1More deportation, #MigrantLivesMatter, and #Health4All campaigns.
Thousands of people participate in the Two Cities Marathon & Half. “The half-marathon is the fastest-growing distance in racing—with almost 2 million finishers in the U.S. last year.” Running is symbolic for a lot of things. For us it will be symbolic of all of the deportations under Obama’s administration, which at this point has exceeded 2 million! This is unacceptable! We hope to be able to make some noise and gain the president’s attention and continue to pressure him to act now—to STOP DEPORTATIONS! #Not1More!
There are 1,100 deportations that happen daily, yet the heartbreak that ensues is immeasurable. Our (im)migrant folks risk their lives just to have the opportunity to have a better life in the “Land of the Free,” yet they often live in the shadows filled with fear of getting deported. Our families keep getting separated and children are left orphaned and the day-to-day struggles are real and painful. It is obvious that America only provides equality and justice for SOME. Humyn rights are denied to those who don’t have the privilege of having the special social security numbers. Undocumented people are dehumanized and thousands are made to suffer in detention centers.
As #TeamFIYA, we want to urge President Barack Obama (Deporter-in -Chief) to use his executive power to stop deportations and to grant administrative relief and expand deferred action for all of our 11 million undocumented folks. He needs to stop playing political games with our families. We are heartbroken that the president has decided to deport the thousands of refugee children back to their war-torn, violence and drug ridden home countries. We are running for our families, communities, and refugee children at the border.
Access to healthcare is a humyn right. We want to remind the president that #MigrantLivesMatter! We need #Health4ALL of our communities. Locally in Fresno the Board of supervisors has decided to end our Medical Indigent Service Program (MISP) for our undocumented community. Without this service our most vulnerable and marginalized communities are left to fend for themselves when it comes to healthcare. These communities are our friends, families, and neighbors.
We are Fresno Immigrant Youth in Action. We are here to help our im(migrant) community in any way we can. Through this marathon we are fundraising for DACA (Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals) scholarships. DACA authorizes undocumented individuals to obtain a work permit. The cost for a permit is $465! It is beyond unjust what our undocumented community has to go through just to survive. Please consider donating to our campaign on indiegogo (launching soon).
Look for #TeamFIYA at the Two Cities Marathon on November 2. Race starts at 6:30 a.m. at Woodward Park (Friant & Audubon). We invite you to join our cheering tent along the course on Friant and Copper. We would love to have your support as we have a protest in motion through running.
We need the president to take action NOW! All deportations need to stop!
We are RUNNING for the LIBERATION of ALL of our UNDOCUMENTED community. Liberation Not Deportation!
PLEASE SUPPORT us by SHARING this event and SPREADING THE WORD! Thank you! 🙂
For more info contact Yesenia Valdez @ 559-408-6672
FIYA FB page: bit.ly/weareFIYA
