GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. — A West Michigan man is on day 43 of a hunger strike as he tries to find lawmakers willing to assist in getting his family to the United States from Iran.
Raymond Reish was born in Afghanistan in 1984. Soon after, his family fled their home and wound up in Iran.
When the family received a letter from an uncle that people were trying to take over their home and property in Afghanistan, one of his brothers, Ali, decided to go back to fend them off.
Ali would be shot in the leg during his efforts. Reish says he would be killed by poisoning while trying to receive treatment at a hospital.
His oldest brother, Pahlavan, had been killed in 1980 in Afghanistan while standing atop their family home.
In 2003, another of Reish's brothers, Mohammad, was killed in Iran.
This pushed Reish to leave Iran for Hong Kong, and eventually to the United States.
He came here permanently with his wife in 2015, now a full citizen.
"I have family here. I have wife, I have kids, I have mortgage," he told FOX 17.
"I live paycheck to paycheck. I'm a semi driver. I work everyday 12 to 14 hours, six days a week, to make a living in this country and support my family back in Iran."
After Reish left for the United States, his father decided to head back home to Afghanistan alone, amidst daily violence in the area.
Another brother, and a sister, of Reish eventually joined their father there, trying to keep him safe.
His father would be shot and killed there, with his brother and sister left to flee back to Iran in 2021 when the United States pulled its military out of Afghanistan.
About 8 months ago, he launched a letter writing campaign, at first sending letters to multiple addresses for each lawmaker he wrote.
"In hopes of they give me a response, what they want to do for my family after they pull out from Afghanistan. But, none of them responded to me.”
It was on July 18 that he began his hunger strike, subsisting on just water.
“I already lost almost 25 pounds, but I will stay here because I have goals,” he said.
Reish is situated under a small tent on the sidewalk near the federal building in Grand Rapids, where lawmakers have offices.
“I will stay here even if I die… I need to rescue my family,” he said.
As of Tuesday, he has been out there for 43 days.
He says he will remain in that spot, living only on water, until he gets a lawmaker to assist him in getting his loved ones to the United States to begin a better life.
