Pastor launches hunger strike over immigration

HOUSTON — A Baptist pastor launched a public weeklong hunger strike Sept. 7 in front of Houston’s municipal headquarters to call for immigration reform.

Julio Barquero, pastor of Iglesia Bautista Esperanza in Pasadena, will eat no solid food and drink only water until Sept. 13 to draw attention to the plight of undocumented workers.

Interfaith Worker Justice and other Houston-area groups have joined the call for comprehensive immigration reform and an end to workplace raids and deportations of undocumented laborers.

Church leaders should speak out against social injustice — including the unjust treatment of “strangers and sojourners” in the United States, Barquero said.

“Pastors talk about abortion. They talk about homosexuality. But they say nothing about immigration,” he said. “It is time for reform. It is not a Democratic issue or a Republican issue — not an issue for one political party. It is about an immoral situation and the church should not turn its back.”