A group of ten Mexican American women have begun a hunger strike in front of the White House to protest the poverty and violence that has plagued the U.S./Mexico border for years.

Their goal is to increase federal funding for border towns. Cindy Arnolds, the organizer of the hunger strike, told Notimex, "We want to draw public and political attention to the need to invest in the development of communities along the border. There is too much poverty, unemployment and violence."