SAN JUAN –

Members of LUPE, a community organization, are reflecting on their past in an effort to change their future.

More than 50 people are vowing to take part in a chain fast. They hope to draw the attention of those who blocked parts of the president’s executive order.

LUPE is asking people to fast for 24 hours then pass the fast on to someone else. It is a strategy that goes back to the founder of the organization, Cesar Chavez.

Martha Sanchez is the organizing coordinator for La Union del Pueblo Entero, an organization built around the ideals of civil rights activist Cesar Chavez.

She said, “All the changes that he was able to obtain through his life, it was because he fasts. He always used fast as a very important tool to motivate, to educate, and also to change the laws that were unjust with the farm workers.”

Chavez once fasted for 36 days. He passed the practice on to well-known people across the country.

Sanchez said that famous fast sparked change for farm workers across the U.S.

LUPE is using that technique, and it starts with Brayeth Cano, who works for LUPE. An eagle medallion around his neck is a symbol of the fast he started this morning.

It is his way of protesting Monday’s ruling.

“My family will be affected by that. Relatives of my relatives, friends of my friends will be affected. Some of my best friends will be affected by that. So it was personal,” said Cano.

He came to the U.S. illegally from Honduras when he was 10 years old. He was granted deferred action in 2012 and is on his way to getting a law degree.

“I think that growing up an American, but having a background of violence in your life, it changes you. It makes you see there’s more opportunity than what’s being offered to you. That’s what we’re fighting for,” he said.

The small ache in his stomach reminds him of a sacrifice that runs deep in the organization’s history.

LUPE is asking people who want to participate in the fast to call them and let them know. The number of the San Juan officer is (956) 787 – 2233.

People will gather at the LUPE San Juan office every day of the fast at 12 p.m., where those ending their fast will pass the baton, and those beginning it will share their reasons for making the 24-hour sacrifice.

LUPE said they will continue the chain fasting through all 40 days of Lent or until the block on the immigration action is appealed.