Dozens of farm workers and supporters will begin a 5-day fast rotating through five Salinas Vally cities in support of the AgJobs bill allowing undocumented field laborers to earn permanent legal status. A dozen fasters will be on site throughout the day. Every evening at 7 p.m. more than 100 fasters and supporters will gather for a candlelight vigil.

The bipartisan federal AgJobs bill now before the U.S. Senate--S. 1645 and H.R. 3142, by U.S. Sens. Larry E. Craig (R-Idaho) and Edward M. Kennedy (D-Mass.), and U.S. Reps. Chris Cannon (R-Utah) and Howard Berman (D-Calif.)--would allow undocumented farm workers to earn the legal right to permanently stay in this country by continuing to work in agriculture. Also strongly backed by the agricultural industry, AgJobs has the support of 63 co-sponsors in the Senate, including 26 Republicans. A Senate floor vote on the measure has been blocked in the past by President Bush. The Senate is now currently in session and this week farm workers will be joined by activists in more than 70 cities throughout the country who are pressing for immigration reform before the November election.

AgJobs has been endorsed by more than 400 hundred organizations representing a broad cross-section of employer associations, religious organizations, immigrant advocates, civil rights groups and unions from across the nation. The editorial boards of the Wall St. Journal, Los Angeles Times, San Francisco Chronicle, Sacramento Bee, Fresno Bee, Salinas Californian, La Opinion, Miami Herald, New York Times and other newspapers around the U.S. have editorialized for the measure.

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