By: Celia Martinez

A hunger strike in the Little Village neighborhood to save the lives of the Arroyo brothers continues even though participants of the strike are beginning to feel the re-precautions. On Monday June 11, 2012, on the 9th day of the hunger strike, 53-year-old Catalina Arroyo, aunt of the Arroyo brothers and participant of the hunger strike, was taken to the hospital in the early hours of the morning with pain in her abdomen.

The Arroyo brothers suffer from a condition called Amyloidosis that requires a liver transplant; however hospitals are refusing treatment and are unwilling to place brothers Elfego and Lorenzo Arroyo on the National Organ Transplant waiting list because of their status as undocumented immigrants.

Father Jose Landaverde from Our Lady of Guadalupe Mission insists that it is irresponsible of the hospitals to deny treatment to patients who need transplants. “It’s a moral issue, but they are totally immoral,” said Father Landaverde of the hospitals. “This takes away from their ethics.”

In the days that followed, Father Landaverde and supporters of the Arroyo brothers have joined with organizations like Occupy Chicago, The National Network of Prayer and the United Church of Christ to immobilize in front of the hospitals that have denied the Arroyo brothers treatment. Father Landaverde says they want to take the campaign further and make it stronger at a National level. “This is not only a Chicago problem,” said Father Landaverde. “It is a national problem.”