The UALR chapter of League of United Latin American Citizens is joining a nationwide cause to promote awareness of the need for immigration reform.

The students are showing their solidarity with the “Fast for Families Across America” bus tour by fasting on Wednesday, March 12. Ahead of Wednesday’s fast, they held a demonstration on the UALR campus Monday afternoon, March 10.

The bus tour, which is mobilizing constituents by traveling through more than 75 congressional districts on its way from California to Washington, D.C., seeks to underscore the moral urgency for Congress to pass immigration reform this year.

All are invited to join in the effort and may contact UALR student Crystal Alvarez at cxalvarez@ualr.edu or Dr. Terry Trevino-Richard, LULAC state president and UALR professor, at 501.561.4456 for more information.

In June 2013, the U.S. Senate passed a comprehensive, bipartisan immigration bill (S.744), but the U.S. House has delayed a final vote on the matter.

“As the leaders of Fast for Families passes through Arkansas on Wednesday and make their way to D.C., we want them to know we support them,” said Trevino-Richard.

“Our UALR LULAC is using this period of fasting to call attention to the need for Congress to address this issue, to contact their congressmen, and to ask other UALR students and faculty to join us in this event,” he said.

The bus tour and its leaders say they hope by fasting to follow the examples of Cesar Chavez, Martin Luther King Jr. and Mahatma Gandhi.

Trevino-Richard said this week’s events highlight recent grant funding that is helping current and potential UALR students and other Latinos in Arkansas.

Walmart has provided $40,000 to support statewide workshops and is committed to helping permanent residents who need help completing required documents and legal advice to become citizens.

“There are more than 40,000 Latinos with legal residency in Arkansas who have not applied for citizenship, and we want them to know the advantages of being a full American,” said Trevino-Richard.

“These workshops also target students who are ‘dreamers’ via the Deferred Action Status program,” he added. “We are offering guidance in the application process to help these students stay and work here legally.”

In addition, an $8,000 Department of Justice grant, which runs through June, is supporting an investigation into possible discriminatory activity against Latinos in the central Arkansas area.

In particular, the study is examining whether Latinos are being treated fairly in their applications for housing and apartment leases or purchases.

Trevino-Richard said LULAC, in partnership with the Little Rock School District, has also applied for a $20,000 Ford Driving Dreams grant to address high school dropout rates among Latinos, as well as increasing ACT test scores among Latinos.

Notification on the status of the Ford Driving Dreams grant will be made available on April 1, according to Trevino-Richard.