{"id":4277,"date":"2011-08-05T09:42:42","date_gmt":"2011-08-05T14:42:42","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/thedustininmansociety.com\/blog\/?p=4277"},"modified":"2011-08-05T09:42:42","modified_gmt":"2011-08-05T14:42:42","slug":"rich-pellegrino-caper-as-immigrants-we-need-to-obey-the-laws-that-are-good-for-us-mdj-today-the-hunger-strike-is-on-its-over-its-back-onbut-the-grins-continue","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.thedustininmansociety.org\/blog\/2011\/08\/05\/rich-pellegrino-caper-as-immigrants-we-need-to-obey-the-laws-that-are-good-for-us-mdj-today-the-hunger-strike-is-on-its-over-its-back-onbut-the-grins-continue\/","title":{"rendered":"Rich Pellegrino caper. “As immigrants, we need to obey the laws that are good for us.” – MDJ today: The hunger strike is on, its over, it’s back on…but the grins continue"},"content":{"rendered":"

\u201cBack here on planet Earth, while holding my sides from laughter, all of this is making it very difficult to eat my chili dog,\u201d King said. \u201cAs I suspect many others are, I have to ask if Zamora is really a non-eating, Kamikaze, anti-enforcement activist, or maybe has more in common with Pinocchio and is under the spell of the great thinker in local theatre, Rich Pellegrino…”<\/strong><\/p>\n

Marietta Daily Journal<\/em>
\nAugust 05, 2011 <\/p>\n

Mableton man ends hunger strike protest<\/strong><\/p>\n

MABLETON \u2014 Only one of two immigrants remain on a hunger strike that began on July 1 to protest Georgia\u2019s immigration law. Martin Altamirano stopped fasting on July 12 to help take care of Salvador Zamora, who became ill and is now eating yogurt under doctors\u2019 advice.<\/p>\n

\u201cI was feeling weak and dizzy, it\u2019s weird to describe,\u201d said 45-year-old Altamirano, who told the Journal last month he was willing to continue his hunger strike until death, if necessary. \u201cNow that Salvador is healthy and better, I would like to start back (on the hunger strike) around (Aug. 15).\u201d<\/p>\n

Cobb Immigrant Alliance Director Rick Pellegrino organized a press conference for the pair on July 12, the day Altamirano quit the fast.<\/p>\n

Doctors told Zamora to take his vitamins with yogurt, Altamirano said.<\/p>\n

\u201cI feel weak,\u201d Zamora said. \u201cSometimes it\u2019s very hard for me to get up and walk, and sometimes I\u2019m sleepy.\u201d<\/p>\n

Zamora, who walked from California to Washington, D.C., in support of immigration reform, said fasting was \u201ceasier in some ways, but harder on me mentally.\u201d<\/p>\n

Pellegrino said that while Zamora and Altamirano initially started the hunger strike with a list of goals, now the two just want to meet with Georgia Gov. Nathan Deal.<\/p>\n

\u201cWith our support, Salvador will be delivering a letter to request a meeting with the governor and some representatives about our concerns and the impact of HB 87,\u201d Pellegrino said. \u201cThe letter is not complete. We are going to draft it over the weekend and will try to deliver it on Tuesday.\u201d<\/p>\n

Zamora said that he plans to fast as long as it takes.<\/p>\n

\u201cI hope that they can come through \u2026 get Governor Deal to talk to us,\u201d Zamora said \u201cI\u2019m very positive that we can get it. I just hope it\u2019s not another two months.\u201d<\/p>\n

Zamora said that if they do meet with Gov. Deal, he would like to discuss what he calls the \u201cinhumanity\u201d of HB 87.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s not necessary to put fear in our people,\u201d he said. <\/p>\n

Zamora said the community has responded positively to the hunger strike.<\/p>\n

\u201cAt first, about 70 or 80 percent were against it, but now more people show that they are not against us,\u201d Zamora said. \u201cWe do not resent against the people who are against us, we just want them to think very clearly. I think that many of them, they are also misinformed.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cAbout the kids, there is some misinformation,\u201d Altamirano said. \u201cAmerican people believe that the kids are receiving a free ride (by attending American schools) \u2026 but the families are renting their house, paying a mortgage and taxes from that are paying for the education.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cI understand, since the beginning of coming here, that I needed to learn the language,\u201d Zamora said. \u201cWe need to teach our people, so that (American-born citizens) don\u2019t see us as different.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cI am also aware that in order for us to do good and have our rights respected, we need to do good and contribute to this nation,\u201d Zamora said. \u201cAs immigrants, we need to obey the laws that are good for us.\u201d <\/p>\n

Altamirano moved to the United States about 18 years ago and is in the U.S. Temporary Protected Status program. Zamora moved to the U.S. on his own at 16 from Mexico and is a U.S. citizen.<\/p>\n

On July 12, both men said while they have no desire to die, they will strike until they see change, even if that means death.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s a very common question from people about this situation,\u201d Altamirano said at the time. \u201cThe thing is, Christianity is based on a carpenter that died for the brothers. I don\u2019t know why people don\u2019t get used to the idea that someone sacrificed for the will of others. I\u2019m willing to do that.\u201d<\/p>\n

Immigration activist D.A. King questioned Zamora\u2019s motivations.<\/p>\n

\u201cBack here on planet Earth, while holding my sides from laughter, all of this is making it very difficult to eat my chili dog,\u201d King said. \u201cAs I suspect many others are, I have to ask if Zamora is really a non-eating, Kamikaze, anti-enforcement activist, or maybe has more in common with Pinocchio and is under the spell of the great thinker in local theatre, Rich Pellegrino. I wish them all happy landings, but urge more fact-checking on their script. Not many are fooled about this character\u2019s latest meal but most of us look forward with a yawn to see what\u2019s next from Pellegrino and both of his followers. Can we assume this is at least an admission that angrily marching in the streets is not going to stop enforcement of American immigration laws?\u201d <\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Read more: The Marietta Daily Journal <\/a>– Mableton man ends hunger strike protest <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

\u201cBack here on planet Earth, while holding my sides from laughter, all of this is making it very difficult to eat my chili dog,\u201d King said. \u201cAs I suspect many others are, I have to ask if Zamora is really a non-eating, Kamikaze, anti-enforcement activist, or maybe has more in common with Pinocchio and is […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.thedustininmansociety.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4277"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.thedustininmansociety.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.thedustininmansociety.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.thedustininmansociety.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.thedustininmansociety.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=4277"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.thedustininmansociety.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4277\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.thedustininmansociety.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=4277"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.thedustininmansociety.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=4277"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.thedustininmansociety.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=4277"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}