DREAM Act Students in Deportation
Published July 09, 2009 @ 05:07PM PT
Credit: America's Voice
Coming on the heels of the successful campaigns for Noe Guzman, Benita Veliz and Walter Lara this year, we would like to reach out to as many DREAM Act students in deportation as possible, in order to provide much-needed help and support.
Please share this link with your family and friends.
Halt the Deportation of Students Like Walter Lara
Published June 29, 2009 @ 09:47AM PT
Walter Lara, age 23, came to the United States from Argentina 20 years ago. Unless Congress or the Department of Homeland Security intervenes in his case, he will be required to leave the U.S. by July 6th.
Walter, having lived in the U.S. since he was three, speaks English without any trace of an accent. Miami is the only home he remembers. Walter graduated from Miami Central Senior High School in 2004 with a 4.7 grade point average, fourth in his class. He dedicated over 1,000 hours of service to his community.
After high school, Walter attended the Honors College of Miami Dade Wolfson Campus. He earned an Associates of Arts degree in Computer Animation having maintained a 3.7 cumulative grade point average and used this education to do freelance web design. On the side, he has found time to be involved in sports and teach himself many aspects of computing. Walter Lara has never broken the law and continues to be an active and important member of his community. He aspires to work for Pixar as a graphic designer, but without a Social Security number or visa, and therefore unable to attend a 4-year college, he has worked instead as a cable installer for Direct-TV.
On February 17, 2009, he was on his way to Fisher Island for an install when he was stopped by I.C.E. officials. When he admitted to them that he is undocumented, Walter was arrested and jailed for 20 days. He now faces deportation within days to a country he has never known.
Walter can probably get his case re-opened on that grounds that he never received proper counsel. In the meantime, please take the following actions to keep Walter Lara in this country:
1. Sign the online petition
2. Join the support group on Facebook
3. Sign and send this letter to my members of Congress demanding that they do something!!
4. Send a letter of support to mjlacayo@aol.com
In some good news, Senator Bill Nelson is showing his support for Walter Lara and may introduce a private bill on his behalf. But the real solution for students like Walter is the DREAM Act.
Come DREAM for America - National DREAM Act Graduation
Published June 21, 2009 @ 05:11PM PT
With the Capitol Dome behind them, hundreds of youth from all over the country, along with education, faith, business, immigrant and civil rights leaders are expected to participate in a National DREAM Graduation ceremony, hosted by the United We Dream Coalition (UWD).
Each year, 65,000 immigrant students who graduate from U.S. high schools are barred from pursuing their dreams of higher education. Advocates will underscore the importance of advancing the “DREAM Act” and the “American Dream Act” to give these youth a chance to attend college and pursue their goals.
The acts would restore states’ rights to determine residency requirements for in-state tuition and establish a path to legal status and eventual citizenship for undocumented youth. The graduation ceremony will recognize the talents and significant academic achievements of immigrant students who would benefit from the legislation, highlighting their contributions and service in local communities.
UWD is an immigrant-youth led coalition committed to supporting immigration reform policies that create a pathway to citizenship, keep families together, and promote the social, economic, and political integration of all immigrants.
Schedule of National Action:
9AM - Legislative Training
Location: American Federation of Teachers, 555 New Jersey Ave NW, Washington, DC
12PM Graduation
Location: Lower Senate Park, corner of Louisiana Ave and D St NW, Washington DC
2PM - 5PM - Legislative visits in congressional offices
DC Graduation Facebook Page
Registration for DC Graduation
Link to Map of actions
The national graduation will be live twittered here and videos uploaded to our Youtube and Vimeo
In addition to serving as Master of Ceremonies and doing the closing speech for the graduation, students from DreamActivist have reached out to other organizations and helped arrange solidarity actions across the United States. For more details, see http://www.dreamactivist.org/dream-graduations-coast-coast/
To contact immigrant students, educators or for more information please contact: Tolu Olubunmi (olubunmi@nilc.org) 240-505-5921(c)
DREAM Act Graduations - Coast to Coast on June 23
Published June 11, 2009 @ 03:50PM PT
On Tuesday June 23, 2009 United We Dream coalition members will be holding graduation ceremonies from coast to coast. The main event will be in Washington D.C., with solidarity events taking place all across the country. Below please find a listing of all of those events and how you can partake in them:
California:
- Dream Team Los Angeles:
June 23, 2009
11:30 am- 2 pm.
In front of the Los Angeles City Hall
- Orange County Dream Team:
North Carolina:
- The Coalition for College Access(C4CA) and Adelante Education Coalition will be hosting a mock graduation outside of Sen. Kay Hagan’s office at 5PM in Greensboro ( 701 Green Valley Rd; Suite 201, Greensboro, NC 27408) on June 23rd.
New Jersey:
- Waiting for confirmation, information will be posted as soon as it is available.
New York:
- No local event scheduled yet, however about 250 students will be bussed to D.C. event. If you would like to ride down from NY register with the Youth Leadership Counsel HERE.
Wisconsin:
- No local event scheduled yet, however students from Voces de la Frontera will be riding a bus down to D.C. event. If you are in Wisconsin and would like to attend please register HERE and info will be sent to you.
Florida:
- No local event scheduled yet, however students from SWER (Students Working for Equal Rights). Space is limited right now so if you would like to attend from FL please register HERE and you will be contacted with additional information.
Texas:
- The University Leadership Initiative (ULI) will be bringing students to the National D.C. Graduation, if you would like to participate please contact them or register HERE and you will be contacted.
- The Houston DREAM Act Coalition is also holding a solidarity event. Stay tuned for details.
The PROUD Act is Not a Substitute for the DREAM Act
Published June 09, 2009 @ 08:47AM PT
It came to our attention last week that Representative Joe Baca was re-introducing a bill for immigrant high-school graduates called the PROUD Act or ‘People Resolved to Obtain an Understanding of Democracy Act’ (H.R. 2681).
We would like to thank Joe Baca for introducing this bill again as his efforts do demonstrate the support that exists for immigrant youth.
When we called his office to ask for clarification and to see how the PROUD Act related to the DREAM Act and how we could work together, Baca’s staff were unclear - “No, he has not co-sponsored Dream, no they don’t have background info on why he introduced bill…”
After studying the 1-page bill, we have to conclude that the PROUD Act is not a viable alternative to the DREAM Act. We welcome a bill that does not have a military provision, benefits young people, and pushes the DREAM Act further to the Left. But what we have here is a more restrictive measure that alienates more students than the DREAM Act and doesn’t provide the necessary protections needed.
First, the age requirements are too restrictive and arbitrary. The PROUD Act would not benefit the scores of talented and hard-working students that have been working on getting legislation benefiting immigrant youth passed for so many years.
Essentially, the bill would only benefit those ‘alien minors’ who have been here from Grade 6 to 12, completed high school with a civics curriculum, and are under the age of 25 when they file their application.
Goodbye Matias.
Goodbye Tam Tran.
Goodbye Marie Gonzalez.
Goodbye Prerna.
Watch Out NumbersUSA. Here Comes Reform Immigration for America.
Published June 08, 2009 @ 06:08PM PT
Money, glitz, slogans and numbers.
These are all the important things that the national immigration movement was lacking for quite a while.
Not anymore.
Welcome the Reform Immigration for America Movement.
110,000 calls and faxes to Congress in the space of a few days for 'workable solutions that move us forward while upholding our values.'
Yes, they don't address detention issues and it was hardly a place for dialogue. Yes, the slogans are quite empty and ditzy. Yes, they tokenize migrant youth while still realizing our power to mobilize. And yes, they try to co-opt grassroots energy.
But we need an immigration coalition powerhouse. We need these new media approaches. And the immigration reform movement needs some crucial victories.
Follow #RI4A and hold everyone accountable to their actions.
Graduation - Is it The End?
Published June 08, 2009 @ 05:34PM PT
Two graduating seniors are featured in this story:
Three million high school students across the U.S. are receiving their diplomas this month. About 65,000 of them are in the country illegally, most of them in California. But few of those students go to college. Money is a major hurdle for the roughly 6,000 who do pursue higher education, because they're not eligible for most financial aid. We tell the story of two young women, graduating today, who are trying to get to college. Reporter: Kathryn Baron
This is a tough time for DREAM Act students--65,000 of us are graduating from high schools only to be in limbo, unable to move forward with nowhere to go. Contrary to the experiences of documented seniors, graduation is not a rite of passage for undocumented students. For many, it is slamming the door shut, yet another roadblock.
To commemorate and bring attention to this fact, United We DREAM is holding a national DREAM Act graduation day on June 23. Join us in Washington D.C. or in Los Angeles.via DREAM Team LA.
About Pass the DREAM Act
The federal DREAM Act (Development, Relief, and Education for Alien Minors Act), is a bipartisan legislation that would permit students brought to the country illegally as children conditional legal status and eventual citizenship.
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