Editor’s Note: More than 1,200 women from 70 organizations are fasting in 35 states for immigration reform that keeps families together and treats women fairly this month. The month of fasting will culminate April 7-9th, 2014 when 100 women will fast in DC for 48 hours.

Click here to sign the petition urging Speaker Boehner to meet with these courageous women in DC in April.

Fasting has been a very interesting and contemplative experience for me. In addition to this 24-hour fast for immigrant survivors of violence, I have pledged to fast every Wednesday during Lent.

Fasting is very challenging for me, but each time I do it, I can't help but think of the unbearable sacrifice that millions of families, women and children, are forced to make because of unjust immigration laws. They have to cope with the emptiness of a missing loved one every day. My fasting pales in comparison, but it is an act of compassion and it is a tangible and meaningful action I can take to call for immigration reform. For me, it is something real that I can do about a crisis that often seems uncontrollable and irresolvable.