A Chicago woman who faces deportation is on her 24th day of a hunger strike. But so far Congressional leaders haven’t heeded her call to revive an effort to legalize the nation’s estimated 12 million undocumented immigrants.

Federal raids on a pallet manufacturer called IFCO Systems last year netted almost 1,200 undocumented immigrants. The 26 in the Chicago area included Mexican-born Flor Crisóstomo.

Most have already been deported. Crisóstomo and five others are supposed to leave the country by January 30. She says her hunger strike has two purposes.

CRISOSTOMO: Uno, mandar el mensaje a mi pueblo… 

One, she says, is to inspire her people to keep struggling for rights in this country. The other, she says, is to pressure Democrats to push for a halt to immigration raids and for legalization.

Crisóstomo says she’s been living on water and Gatorade since November 15 and is too weak to climb stairs or walk much. But she says her hunger strike will continue at least through mid-week.