Hunger Strike Against Secure Communities

Jeremy Hay writes for the Press Democrat:

In the first days he felt more energy than usual. Then came weariness. Then he was lightheaded.

But Santa Rosa immigration attorney Richard Coshnear has persisted in a hunger strike which today reaches its 11th day.

In refusing to eat, the 53-year-old activist has become an extreme example of the passions over undocumented immigration issues.

Coshnear, who is drinking water and fruit juice, said he is trying to force Sonoma County supervisors to look into and stop local cooperation with federal immigration authorities, raise public awareness, and energize immigrants to pressure the board.

“I want to see that the county actually does something, that the supervisors take up the issue and address it fully,” he said.

Specifically, Coshnear wants supervisors to act on a recommendation made in February by the county’s Commission on Human Rights.

The commission urged the board to adopt a County of Family Unity ordinance prohibiting local resources from being used to help enforce federal immigration laws except in cases involving human trafficking or people convicted of serious or violent felonies. Read more…

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