PEORIA, Ariz.-- Immigration activists are spending 24 hours outside the front gates of Arizona Congressman Trent Franks’ home.
A couple dozen showed up Friday night, and say they’ll stay through the night and day Saturday, holding continuous prayer vigils.
The group is hoping to appeal to Franks’ deep religious convictions. They say they want to make the ‘moral case’ for immigration reform and a path to citizenship.
“We know he’s a man of faith,” Pedro Lopez told 3TV. “And that’s one thing we have in common with the congressman.”
A couple dozen showed up Friday night, and say they’ll stay through the night and day Saturday, holding continuous prayer vigils.
The group is hoping to appeal to Franks’ deep religious convictions. They say they want to make the ‘moral case’ for immigration reform and a path to citizenship.
“We know he’s a man of faith,” Pedro Lopez told 3TV. “And that’s one thing we have in common with the congressman.”
Franks greeted the group, and spent time listening to their concerns and stories of family separation due to immigration issues and deportation.
“One of our DREAMers said she hasn’t seen her father in a year, and that really affected him,” activist Donna Cheung said.
“They’re absolutely wonderful people,” Franks said of the group, as he and his family left for an event Friday night.
“I've got my family here with me. If I lived in a different country, I'd want to come here, too. I’d do whatever I could to put my family in a better situation,” he added.
Franks promised to return to pray with the group later in the night, and allowed them to hang posters on his fence.
Peoria Police sent a couple patrol cars to watch the vigil, but it remained quiet and peaceful.
