DREAM Act Re-Introduced
Published March 26, 2009 @ 04:15PM PT
It is here as expected. The DREAM Act is once again alive and kicking. And it is up to us now to help it make it past the finishing line.
According to the National Immigration Law Center press release, the bill has strong sponsorship among both Democrats and Republicans:
Senators
Russell Feingold (D-WI)
Edward Kennedy (D-MA)
Patrick Leahy (D-VT)
Joe Lieberman (I- CT)
Mel Martinez (R-FL)
Harry Reid (D-NV)House of Representatives
Joseph Cao (R-LA)
John Conyers, Jr. (D-MI)
Devin Nunez (R-CA),
Mario Diaz-Balart (R-FL)
Zoe Lofgren (D-CA)
Jared Polis (D-CO)
Ileana Ros-Lehtinen (R-FL)
Representative Zoe Lofrgen, Chairperson of the Immigration Subcommittee stated:
As a nation, we face an increasingly competitive global market. To effectively compete in this new interconnected global market, we must ensure that we have the most educated workforce in the world. Whether in college or in the military, we must give all qualified young people the opportunity to get an education. These determined and dedicated young people need the chance to become productive members of our society. Penalizing them hurts us all
Reportedly, criticisms about the DREAM Act from grassroots activists are addressed in the Senate version of the new bill that stipulates an age limit of 35 (up from 30) and both versions also allow states to give in-state tuition to students that would qualify.
Taking Action for Our DREAMs
Published March 17, 2009 @ 11:06AM PT
We have exciting times ahead of us with news that the DREAM Act will get reintroduced very soon. Based on suggestions and our own experience with organizing, here are several things that can be done:
1. Sign up to get involved. Our petition effort has some really great narratives and comments from supporters, so please share your stories as you sign it.
2. Ask your Congressperson to support the DREAM Act. Simple email advocacy to get the word to your Senators, Representatives and the President of the United States.
3. Follow-up with a phone call on March 23 and 24.
4. Make appointments to visit your legislators and report back using this form.
5. In the meantime, get us your story, order some postcards, hold community hearings, get your AS and city council to pass resolutions (sample) in support of the DREAM Act.
6. If you are a student group or local organization planning actions around the DREAM Act this year, get in touch with us for networking (joining the United We DREAM coalition) and media purposes. If you need help forming a student group or local organization, see here.
This is not the time to stay complacent and sit on the sidelines. Legislation supporting undocumented students, let alone the entire undocumented population, will not get past first-base without real grassroots advocacy. All eyes are now on immigrant youth to fuel this movement. We need to organize for change from the bottom-up, within our own schools and communities, if we really want the DREAM Act to pass this year.
"I never had any doubt I was a citizen" - Noe Guzman
Published March 13, 2009 @ 07:36PM PT
But he wasn't.
The saving one student at a time project got off to a great start as the chief counsel of ICE dropped removal proceedings against Noe Guzman—a high school student from New Haven, Missouri who only learned about his undocumented status upon trying to join the Marine Corps.
We first learned about Noe in an article published in the St. Louis Post-Dispatch this January and scampered around to see what we could do for him. At the end of the day, not much besides getting him another counsel to advice his present counsel. It was really the outcry from his community that turned the tide for the hard-working, young immigrant student who only got caught by the system when he tried to serve his country.
Immigrant Students Don't Choose to be Undocumented
Published March 11, 2009 @ 06:12PM PT
By Cristina Jimenez.
Yesterday, the New York Times reported that undocumented high school graduates in Rhode Island can’t pursue higher education. Undocumented students have to pay out-of-state tuition, which is about three times higher than in-state tuition, and are not eligible for financial assistance—making it almost impossible for undocumented students to enroll in college.
Judah Lakin, a history teacher is trying to help his immigrant students by consulting with attorneys about their legal options to attain immigration status. According to the NYT, Mr. Lakin has become the “go-to” teacher at Hope High School after he helped one of his students get immigration status.
But this article fails to note that cases where undocumented youth attain immigration status are very rare and most undocumented youth live in fear of deportation because there are very limited legal means to get on a path to citizenship. The immigration status of immigrant youth derives from their parents. If their parents are undocumented, they cannot adjust their immigration status.
Only ten states allow undocumented youth to pay in-state tuition in public colleges. In other states, students and their allies are battling to win equal access to higher education. Conservatives opposed to such legislation argue: “What part of ‘illegal’ don’t you understand?” I respond: “What part of legal immigration don’t you understand?
Round-Up – What is up in the DREAM Act blogosphere?
Published March 06, 2009 @ 06:34AM PT
Immigrant college grads in Arizona or anywhere cannot get jobs, Colorado and Rhode Island held their own versions of tuition equity hearings with reasonable success on the side of undocumented students, the anti-immigrant CIS is out with another public service (?) announcement now linking undocumented immigrants to the T-word, and the Gomez brothers have finally gained reprieve from deportation due to a private bill sponsored by Senator Dodd with the real solution—the DREAM Act—nowhere in sight. Fear not, we have good news buried in this post.
Following on the heels of the successful SCHIP battle, Congressperson Jose Serrano (D-NY) introduced the Child Citizen Protection Act (H.R. 182), a limited bill that would allow [3.1 million] U.S. citizen children to be heard before their immigrant parent is deported from the United States. Over 100,000 parents of U.S. citizens, have been deported thus far, which is simply outrageous:
“I am saddened, but not surprised to learn that our government, in its harsh anti-immigrant stance, has split hundreds of thousands of families apart over the past decade,” Serrano said. “Over the years, I have said many times that our current deportation regime is inhumane and un-American. Now we have direct proof that this is the case.”
A plea comes from Dream Act Texas to President Obama, who seems to only want to talk about immigration reform in the Spanish media.
Immigration is urgently needing your attention. You promised the DREAM Act would pass in the first 100 days. You said things would be different with U.S. immigration policy. Could you have a quick meeting with DHS Director, Janet Napolitano and tell her to go ahead and start changing immigration policy? Something has to be done with Arpaio in Arizona. ICE raids need to stop. The DREAM Act needs to pass (the U.S. economy needs the DREAMers).
Hint: The plea is likely to be answered in the House and Senate before April 6 session break.
DMI Blogger, Cristina Jimenez also calls on the administration to take action on immigration reform, especially after the surprising raid on an engine remanufacturing plan in Bellingham Washington where 28 undocumented workers were detained:
This was the first worksite raid under the Obama administration—yet the President did not mention the issue of immigration in his address.
The raid was a surprise to everyone. Homeland Security Secretary, Janet Napolitano stated that she did not know of the raid before it happened and ordered a review of the operation. Clearly, as a report recently revealed, the Department of Homeland Security is dysfunctional.
Check out Livid’s weblog, who points out the drawbacks in Obama’s discourse on immigration:
Obama also has supported the Dream Act which makes it easier for immigrant children to attend college. But he has also hedged, adopting language promoted by the anti-immigrant movement — “Let’s be a nation of laws and a nation of immigrants” – thereby framing the issue as a question of law-breaking, whose inevitable solution is the criminalization of immigrants.
A Call for Stories - My Name is _______ and I am Undocumented
Published March 05, 2009 @ 01:44AM PT
As undocumented students, it is critical that we use every venue at our disposal to share our stories, to not live with the stigma of being undocumented, and to not lead our lives in fear of the unknown. Every year 65,000 undocumented students are estimated to graduate from high school only to face barriers to higher education. There are an estimated 1.5-2.6 million undocumented youth who would benefit from the DREAM Act but live in limbo. When society fails to acknowledge our existence, let alone write our stories, we must take it upon ourselves to chart and navigate our own course. To know that many students exist in this country who are leading a mirror of our lives is sad but also exciting at the same time. It is an opportunity to get together, use our collective imaginations and build community in the waiting rooms of history. Imagine if all our stories were told?
Below are some stories of undocumented immigrant youth that Change.org Immigration blog has published and runs every Friday.
To send us a story and get involved in this project, drop an email to (verve@dreamactivist.org) or contact him via his profile here.
Index of past stories
(Country of Origin - Peru; Nationality - American)
I have decided that a tiny little piece of paper and a 9-digit number are not going to decide what I am or what I am not. I don't define myself by my undocumented status. Yes, I am undocumented, but I am an American first.
(Country of Origin - Mexico; Nationality - American)
"I decided to attend California State University, Los Angeles. I applied for AB-540 so that I could pay in-state tuition. Still, it was very difficult for me to pay off the tuition. I was forced to take two jobs and baby-sit on the weekends as a third job. There were nights when I wouldn't sleep because after a long day at work I had to come home and write papers for my classes. I cried myself to sleep many nights when my friends traveled and I couldn't go because of my status. I hated being treated like I was a criminal, like I had no rights, like I was a slave in my own life. Today I am proud to say that I have graduated with a bachelors of arts in television and film studies, with an option in broadcast journalism. Unfortunately, I have not been able to do much with it because I am still undocumented. But like Gandhi said: "The moment the slave resolves that he will no longer be a slave, his fetters fall. He frees himself and shows the way to others. Freedom and slavery are mental states"
(Country of Origin - South Korea; Nationality - American)
"So I attended Emory University for three years and studied there for a double major in Biology and Chemistry. As a matter of fact, I have completed my degrees but I am short in a few requirements here and there to graduate. This year all my friends will graduate. I on the other hand will remain reticent and probably feel jealous but that’s all I can do for now since I am a man and men do not cry."
(Country of Origin - Croatia; Nationality - American)
“My fellow peers and I have been living here most of our lives. We are American in every sense of the word. We have accomplished great things even with the difficult obstacles we face everyday. Imagine what we could do if granted legal residency. We could become doctors, nurses, engineers, scientists, teachers, etc. Many of us have the degrees, but do not have a way of using them. And many want to serve this country but are not able to join the military.”
(Country of Origin - Phillipines; Nationality - American)
“I went to UC San Diego for a while, but could not keep up with the payments without financial aid, without access to most scholarships, without being able to legally work, and without being able to take out my own loans. Appallingly, the category of being “undocumented” is all too true and existent, and I actually meet every one of its qualifications. Alas, a category has finally succeeded in capturing me. Being “undocumented” means I cannot work, I cannot drive, I am not given enough resources to further my education, and I fear people will judge me on a status I could not control rather than my character. For the first time in my life, I cannot freely speak out about the injustice I am experiencing out of fear when I desperately want people to know about the struggles of an “undocumented”, and the future to me is full of unfulfilled dreams that have no way of being fulfilled. This is what it means to be in the category of being “undocumented” and I wish to end this labeling.”
Spotlight - The Immigrant Paradox in Education and Behavior at Brown University
Published February 27, 2009 @ 01:36PM PT
We recently got news on what promises to be quite an informative and dynamic conference that one of our students is partaking in. Besides intellectuals from around the country, the conference will give space to undocumented students, including a film screening of work by Tam Tran. An agenda is here.
March 6 & March 7. Register Now.
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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