President Michael Crow of Arizona State University has written both Senators John McCain & Jon Kyl, showing unequivocal solidarity with undocumented youth and stating his and the University's support for passage of the DREAM Act:
Senator Kyl, Senator McCain,
"Arizona State University strongly supports the DREAM Act to ensure access to higher education for the thousands of undocumented high school graduates whose ability to obtain a college education is thwarted by our current dysfunctional immigration system. These are students brought to the United States as children, innocents caught up in the middle of the immigration debate. The decision to come to this country was not theirs. But America is the only home they have known and they have spent their young lives being good students, working hard, and staying out of trouble.
Approximately 65,000 undocumented immigrants graduate from American high schools every year ,often unable to afford college without access to resident tuition or government-backed federal or state financial aid. The ability of these young people to contribute to the economic growth of our country, and to their own self-sufficiency, depends in large measure on their ability to further their education. Around 50% of undocumented students drop out of our high schools despite the fact that educational attainment is one of the most important predictors of an individual's economic success and quality of life.
There is a million-dollar difference, over a lifetime, between the earning capacity ofa high school graduate and a college graduate. Research also shows that people who go to college are healthier, are more likely to volunteer and to participate in their community, and are less likely to be incarcerated or rely on public assistance. Undocumented children in America are guaranteed access to public elementary and secondary schools by a 1982 Supreme Court ruling which held that a state cannot deny a free public K-12 education on the basis of immigration status. Erecting barriers and continuing to restrict the opportunity for undocumented children to have access to an affordable higher education denies them economic, social and intellectual benefits that will serve both them and our nation in the future.
I urge you to consider voting to include DREAM in the DoD authorization bill or in whatever legislative vehicle that it may be attached to or as a stand-alone bill. It has been considered since 2001 and perhaps it is past time for its implementation.
Copies of letters can be found here and here
Showing posts with label DREAM Act. Show all posts
Showing posts with label DREAM Act. Show all posts
Monday, September 20, 2010
Wednesday, September 8, 2010
DREAM Now Letters to Barack Obama: Chih Tsung Kao
By kyledeb
Crossposted from Citizen Orange
The "DREAM Now Series: Letters to Barack Obama" is a social media campaign that launched Monday, July 19, to underscore the urgent need to pass the DREAM Act. The Development, Relief, and Education for Alien Minors (DREAM) Act, S. 729, would help tens of thousands of young people, American in all but paperwork, to earn legal status, provided they graduate from U.S. high schools, have good moral character, and complete either two years of college or military service. With broader comprehensive immigration reform stuck in partisan gridlock, the time is now for the White House and Congress to step up and pass the DREAM Act!
Dear President Obama,
My name is Chih Tsung Kao. I am 24 years old and am now currently living in Taipei, Taiwan awaiting military service. This is not what I had planned for my life as I entered high school, but it was drastically altered when I found out that I was undocumented at 17.
I arrived in the US on a visitor's visa when I was about 4 years old. My mother had obtained a student visa for me shortly afterwards and moved me to Boulder, Co to live with my grandparents. By the age of 13 my grandparents decided they wanted to retire and move to California. Being raised in Boulder, the only city I've ever known, I decided I wanted to stay and found a friend's parents who would take me in.
I've learned a lot about what it is to be American and to grow up being American from this family. They have been more family to me than my own biological family. I had not lived with my biological parents since I was brought to the US. When I found out about my expired student visa status in high school, I was both ashamed and embarrassed that I couldn't call myself an American. I had felt every bit American as my peers in school, but was not allowed to call myself one due to my lack of papers. My grandparents aren't to blame. They are older and don't know how the system works.
Actually, I'm not too sure a lot of the American citizens know how the system works, how intricate, and how complicated it is to become a citizen and have the freedom that is granted them for just being who they are. My life had two faces then, an American kid doing what kids do, and a depressed individual, feeling alone and unwanted by the country he felt was home. I had never let any of my friends know of my situation until a month before I left for Taiwan.
I graduated from The Colorado School of Mines with a Civil Engineering degree in the spring of '09, and have since decided that I can no longer wait for my life to take a turn for the better by becoming a citizen. I wanted more than anything to be a productive member of society, paying back my debt to society as a working member of the engineering sector. I don't know if I will ever get a chance to fulfill that now.
Currently, I am living in Taipei, and awaiting mandatory military service for all male Taiwanese citizens. Though I know I must fulfill my duties, I feel that this is yet another year of my life delayed, both personally and professionally. I am currently looking for ways back into the United States, but I fear the ten-year bar for overstaying my "welcome" in the US. Due to this bar, I have also considered immigrating to Canada to start a new life in a country as close to the US as possible. Though it may be too late for me, there are still tens of thousands of students and young adults that can benefit greatly from the passing of the DREAM Act. They, if anything like me, simply wish to be contributing, upstanding citizens of the country they know as "home".
Sincerely,
Chih Tsung Kao
The "DREAM Now" letter series is inspired by a similar campaign started by the Servicemembers Legal Defense Network for the repeal of Don't Ask Don't Tell. The letters are produced by Kyle de Beausset at Citizen Orange with the assistance of America's Voice. Every Monday and Wednesday DREAM-eligible youth will publish letters to the President, and each Friday there will be a DREAM Now recap.
Approximately 65,000 undocumented youth graduate from U.S. high schools every year, who could benefit from passage of the DREAM Act. Many undocumented youth are brought to the United States before they can even remember much else, and some don't even realize their undocumented status until they have to get a driver's license, want to join the military, or apply to college. DREAM Act youth are American in every sense of the word -- except on paper. It's been nearly a decade since the DREAM Act was first introduced. If Congress does not act now, another generation of promising young graduates will be relegated to the shadows and blocked from giving back fully to our great nation.
This is what you can do right now to pass the DREAM Act:
1. Sign the DREAM Act Petition
2. Join the DREAM Act Facebook Cause
3. Send a fax in support of the DREAM Act
4. Call your Senator and ask them to pass the DREAM Act now.
5. Email kyle at citizenorange dot com to get more involved
Crossposted from Citizen Orange
The "DREAM Now Series: Letters to Barack Obama" is a social media campaign that launched Monday, July 19, to underscore the urgent need to pass the DREAM Act. The Development, Relief, and Education for Alien Minors (DREAM) Act, S. 729, would help tens of thousands of young people, American in all but paperwork, to earn legal status, provided they graduate from U.S. high schools, have good moral character, and complete either two years of college or military service. With broader comprehensive immigration reform stuck in partisan gridlock, the time is now for the White House and Congress to step up and pass the DREAM Act!
Dear President Obama,
My name is Chih Tsung Kao. I am 24 years old and am now currently living in Taipei, Taiwan awaiting military service. This is not what I had planned for my life as I entered high school, but it was drastically altered when I found out that I was undocumented at 17.
I arrived in the US on a visitor's visa when I was about 4 years old. My mother had obtained a student visa for me shortly afterwards and moved me to Boulder, Co to live with my grandparents. By the age of 13 my grandparents decided they wanted to retire and move to California. Being raised in Boulder, the only city I've ever known, I decided I wanted to stay and found a friend's parents who would take me in.
I've learned a lot about what it is to be American and to grow up being American from this family. They have been more family to me than my own biological family. I had not lived with my biological parents since I was brought to the US. When I found out about my expired student visa status in high school, I was both ashamed and embarrassed that I couldn't call myself an American. I had felt every bit American as my peers in school, but was not allowed to call myself one due to my lack of papers. My grandparents aren't to blame. They are older and don't know how the system works.
Actually, I'm not too sure a lot of the American citizens know how the system works, how intricate, and how complicated it is to become a citizen and have the freedom that is granted them for just being who they are. My life had two faces then, an American kid doing what kids do, and a depressed individual, feeling alone and unwanted by the country he felt was home. I had never let any of my friends know of my situation until a month before I left for Taiwan.
I graduated from The Colorado School of Mines with a Civil Engineering degree in the spring of '09, and have since decided that I can no longer wait for my life to take a turn for the better by becoming a citizen. I wanted more than anything to be a productive member of society, paying back my debt to society as a working member of the engineering sector. I don't know if I will ever get a chance to fulfill that now.
Currently, I am living in Taipei, and awaiting mandatory military service for all male Taiwanese citizens. Though I know I must fulfill my duties, I feel that this is yet another year of my life delayed, both personally and professionally. I am currently looking for ways back into the United States, but I fear the ten-year bar for overstaying my "welcome" in the US. Due to this bar, I have also considered immigrating to Canada to start a new life in a country as close to the US as possible. Though it may be too late for me, there are still tens of thousands of students and young adults that can benefit greatly from the passing of the DREAM Act. They, if anything like me, simply wish to be contributing, upstanding citizens of the country they know as "home".
Sincerely,
Chih Tsung Kao
The "DREAM Now" letter series is inspired by a similar campaign started by the Servicemembers Legal Defense Network for the repeal of Don't Ask Don't Tell. The letters are produced by Kyle de Beausset at Citizen Orange with the assistance of America's Voice. Every Monday and Wednesday DREAM-eligible youth will publish letters to the President, and each Friday there will be a DREAM Now recap.
Approximately 65,000 undocumented youth graduate from U.S. high schools every year, who could benefit from passage of the DREAM Act. Many undocumented youth are brought to the United States before they can even remember much else, and some don't even realize their undocumented status until they have to get a driver's license, want to join the military, or apply to college. DREAM Act youth are American in every sense of the word -- except on paper. It's been nearly a decade since the DREAM Act was first introduced. If Congress does not act now, another generation of promising young graduates will be relegated to the shadows and blocked from giving back fully to our great nation.
This is what you can do right now to pass the DREAM Act:
1. Sign the DREAM Act Petition
2. Join the DREAM Act Facebook Cause
3. Send a fax in support of the DREAM Act
4. Call your Senator and ask them to pass the DREAM Act now.
5. Email kyle at citizenorange dot com to get more involved
Friday, September 3, 2010
DREAM Now Letters to Barack Obama: Saad Nabeel
By kyledeb. Cross posted from Citizen Orange
The "DREAM Now Series: Letters to Barack Obama" is a social media campaign that launched Monday, July 19, to underscore the urgent need to pass the DREAM Act. The Development, Relief, and Education for Alien Minors (DREAM) Act, S. 729, would help tens of thousands of young people, American in all but paperwork, to earn legal status, provided they graduate from U.S. high schools, have good moral character, and complete either two years of college or military service. With broader comprehensive immigration reform stuck in partisan gridlock, the time is now for the White House and Congress to step up and pass the DREAM Act!
Dear Mr. President,
My name is Saad Nabeel and I am writing to you from Bangladesh. Prior to my arrival in this nation, I lived in the United States for 15 years. My parents brought me to America at age three. It is the only home I know. I used to attend the University of Texas at Arlington with a full scholarship in Electrical Engineering. Through no fault of my own I was forced to leave my home, friends, possessions, and most importantly, my education behind.
November 3rd 2009 is a day I will never forget. My mother called me and told me that my father had been detained by ICE and that we needed to leave immediately to Canada to seek refugee status. Being an only child, I had to take care of my mother and go with her.
My mother and I were denied entrance into Canada and sent back to the USA as if we were common criminals. I was separated from my mother and sent to a detention facility where I was forced to live with 60 men, many of whom were hardened criminals. There was no privacy and I was forced to use the facilities and showers while fully exposed. I lived in constant fear of being abused. I was without food for upwards of 14 hours a day and received little to no medical attention. When I asked for legal counsel I was threatened with criminal charges and jail time in a Federal Penitentiary. To this day I still have nightmares about being detained. Everything my parents taught me about human decency was replaced with humiliation. Mr. President I hope you are as outraged as I am hurt by this ordeal.
Bangladesh is extremely hot and humid. We have no air conditioning as the power goes out every day. These power outages can last twelve hours or more. The air is heavily polluted and I get food poisoning every week from the poor quality of food here. Raw sewage flows in open drains in front of our apartment. I see people outside with mangled bodies dying on the street because of the heat and starvation. I see mothers practically giving their children away because they are unable to feed them.
I do not know the language and I fear going outside because I am different from everyone else. Speaking in English is an easy way to be targeted here. We cannot afford to live in a safer area. I have not left the apartment for 8 months. It simply is too dangerous for me to leave the apartment unless my parents go with me. I cannot attend school due to the language barrier. I do not know anyone in Bangladesh.
On top of all this, my parents are both ill and have been for months. My father suffers severe asthma attacks that make him bedridden on most days. My mother has post traumatic stress and cannot accept the fact that she is not at our home in Texas.
These events transpired after we were approved to receive our Green Cards. ICE forced my family to leave knowing that Green Cards were available to us. We have been waiting for our Green Cards for 15 years now.
Mr. President, you are the most powerful man in the world, all I ask from you is to bring me home. All I ever wanted was an education so I could become an engineer. I just want to go home and go back to college. Please don't keep me exiled any longer. Please bring me home.
Sincerely,
Saad Nabeel
The "DREAM Now" letter series is inspired by a similar campaign started by the Servicemembers Legal Defense Network for the repeal of Don't Ask Don't Tell. The letters are produced by Kyle de Beausset at Citizen Orange with the assistance of America's Voice. Every Monday and Wednesday DREAM-eligible youth will publish letters to the President, and each Friday there will be a DREAM Now recap.
Approximately 65,000 undocumented youth graduate from U.S. high schools every year, who could benefit from passage of the DREAM Act. Many undocumented youth are brought to the United States before they can even remember much else, and some don't even realize their undocumented status until they have to get a driver's license, want to join the military, or apply to college. DREAM Act youth are American in every sense of the word -- except on paper. It's been nearly a decade since the DREAM Act was first introduced. If Congress does not act now, another generation of promising young graduates will be relegated to the shadows and blocked from giving back fully to our great nation.
This is what you can do right now to pass the DREAM Act:
1. Sign the DREAM Act Petition
2. Join the DREAM Act Facebook Cause
3. Send a fax in support of the DREAM Act
4. Call your Senator and ask them to pass the DREAM Act now.
5. Email kyle at citizenorange dot com to get more involved
The "DREAM Now Series: Letters to Barack Obama" is a social media campaign that launched Monday, July 19, to underscore the urgent need to pass the DREAM Act. The Development, Relief, and Education for Alien Minors (DREAM) Act, S. 729, would help tens of thousands of young people, American in all but paperwork, to earn legal status, provided they graduate from U.S. high schools, have good moral character, and complete either two years of college or military service. With broader comprehensive immigration reform stuck in partisan gridlock, the time is now for the White House and Congress to step up and pass the DREAM Act!
Dear Mr. President,
My name is Saad Nabeel and I am writing to you from Bangladesh. Prior to my arrival in this nation, I lived in the United States for 15 years. My parents brought me to America at age three. It is the only home I know. I used to attend the University of Texas at Arlington with a full scholarship in Electrical Engineering. Through no fault of my own I was forced to leave my home, friends, possessions, and most importantly, my education behind.
November 3rd 2009 is a day I will never forget. My mother called me and told me that my father had been detained by ICE and that we needed to leave immediately to Canada to seek refugee status. Being an only child, I had to take care of my mother and go with her.
My mother and I were denied entrance into Canada and sent back to the USA as if we were common criminals. I was separated from my mother and sent to a detention facility where I was forced to live with 60 men, many of whom were hardened criminals. There was no privacy and I was forced to use the facilities and showers while fully exposed. I lived in constant fear of being abused. I was without food for upwards of 14 hours a day and received little to no medical attention. When I asked for legal counsel I was threatened with criminal charges and jail time in a Federal Penitentiary. To this day I still have nightmares about being detained. Everything my parents taught me about human decency was replaced with humiliation. Mr. President I hope you are as outraged as I am hurt by this ordeal.
Bangladesh is extremely hot and humid. We have no air conditioning as the power goes out every day. These power outages can last twelve hours or more. The air is heavily polluted and I get food poisoning every week from the poor quality of food here. Raw sewage flows in open drains in front of our apartment. I see people outside with mangled bodies dying on the street because of the heat and starvation. I see mothers practically giving their children away because they are unable to feed them.
I do not know the language and I fear going outside because I am different from everyone else. Speaking in English is an easy way to be targeted here. We cannot afford to live in a safer area. I have not left the apartment for 8 months. It simply is too dangerous for me to leave the apartment unless my parents go with me. I cannot attend school due to the language barrier. I do not know anyone in Bangladesh.
On top of all this, my parents are both ill and have been for months. My father suffers severe asthma attacks that make him bedridden on most days. My mother has post traumatic stress and cannot accept the fact that she is not at our home in Texas.
These events transpired after we were approved to receive our Green Cards. ICE forced my family to leave knowing that Green Cards were available to us. We have been waiting for our Green Cards for 15 years now.
Mr. President, you are the most powerful man in the world, all I ask from you is to bring me home. All I ever wanted was an education so I could become an engineer. I just want to go home and go back to college. Please don't keep me exiled any longer. Please bring me home.
Sincerely,
Saad Nabeel
The "DREAM Now" letter series is inspired by a similar campaign started by the Servicemembers Legal Defense Network for the repeal of Don't Ask Don't Tell. The letters are produced by Kyle de Beausset at Citizen Orange with the assistance of America's Voice. Every Monday and Wednesday DREAM-eligible youth will publish letters to the President, and each Friday there will be a DREAM Now recap.
Approximately 65,000 undocumented youth graduate from U.S. high schools every year, who could benefit from passage of the DREAM Act. Many undocumented youth are brought to the United States before they can even remember much else, and some don't even realize their undocumented status until they have to get a driver's license, want to join the military, or apply to college. DREAM Act youth are American in every sense of the word -- except on paper. It's been nearly a decade since the DREAM Act was first introduced. If Congress does not act now, another generation of promising young graduates will be relegated to the shadows and blocked from giving back fully to our great nation.
This is what you can do right now to pass the DREAM Act:
1. Sign the DREAM Act Petition
2. Join the DREAM Act Facebook Cause
3. Send a fax in support of the DREAM Act
4. Call your Senator and ask them to pass the DREAM Act now.
5. Email kyle at citizenorange dot com to get more involved
Monday, August 30, 2010
DREAM Now Letters to Barack Obama: Lizbeth Mateo
By kyledeb Crossposted from Citizen Orange
The "DREAM Now Series: Letters to Barack Obama" is a social media campaign that launched Monday, July 19, to underscore the urgent need to pass the DREAM Act. The Development, Relief, and Education for Alien Minors (DREAM) Act, S. 729, would help tens of thousands of young people, American in all but paperwork, to earn legal status, provided they graduate from U.S. high schools, have good moral character, and complete either two years of college or military service. With broader comprehensive immigration reform stuck in partisan gridlock, the time is now for the White House and Congress to step up and pass the DREAM Act!
Dear Mr. President,
My name is Lizbeth Mateo and I am undocumented. On May 17th, on the 56th anniversary of Brown v. Board of Education, I, along with Mohammad Abdollahi, Yahaira Carrillo and two others, became the first undocumented students to risk deportation by staging a sit-in inside Senator McCain's office in Tucson, Arizona, to demand the immediate passage of the DREAM Act. As a result of that sit-in we were arrested, turned over to ICE, and we now face deportation.
I came to this country when I was fourteen-years-old from Oaxaca, Mexico. It was the late nineties and Mexico was, and is still, facing one of the worst socio-economic and political periods in recent history. For my parents - a taxi driver and a stay-at-home-mom that were struggling to make ends meet- it was clear that they would have to choose between seeing their children starve and get sick, or risk it all, leave everything behind and relocate the family to Southern California with hopes of a better future. In 1998 we moved to Los Angeles and have lived here, since.
Their choice and sacrifice paid-off. I didn't only become the first one in my family to graduate from high school, but a couple of years ago I became the first one in my family to graduate from college. I graduated from California State University, Northridge and I am currently in the process of applying to law school. My dream is to become an attorney and defend the most vulnerable in the courts of law.
Life as an undocumented student has not been easy, it's been filled with tough choices and a lot of uncertainty. At one point I felt like the only way to fulfill my dream of higher education was to leave my family behind and go back to Mexico. But California had become my home and so I chose to stay despite the uncertain future ahead. Against all odds I enrolled in college, and it was there that I first learned about the DREAM Act. From the moment I heard about this piece of legislation I decided to work hard and advocate for its passage. It's now been seven years since that day and the DREAM Act has yet to become a reality.
Despite overwhelming support, Congress has been unwilling to pass the DREAM Act. It is because of that inaction that earlier this year I had to decide whether committing civil disobedience would be worth the risk of being forcibly separated from my family, and deported to a place I no longer consider home. I made a choice, forced in part by the lack of courage from our leaders in Congress and inspired by your call to change, the "change [that] will not come if we wait for some other person or some other time." Just as I had chosen to work on your campaign inspired by what you said, that "we are the ones we've been waiting for. We are the change that we seek," I also chose to face my fears, to risk it all, to seek that change, and sit-in so that the DREAM Act could stand alone.
Some say that destiny is not a matter of chances but one of choices. My life and that of my fellow Dreamers has been filled with tough choices, some made by us and some made by others on our behalf. Two months after five of us chose to risk it all for our futures, because we knew that without the DREAM Act we had no future, twenty-one others chose to risk it all for a dream that belongs to us as much as it belongs to our families, our communities, and our home - the United States of America.
I firmly believe that we have made the right choice - to stand up for what we believe in and to try to fulfill the promise of the great American Dream that brought us here in the first place. I firmly believe that we, the undocumented youth, are standing on the right side of history. Now I ask that you stand with us by making the right choice. Help us pass the DREAM Act immediately. Help us free our DREAMs, which have for too long been held hostage to political rhetoric and insensitive choices by a few that have yet to recognize the potential that we have as young, educated people.
Mr. President, staying strong and facing my challenges with courage and dignity while I wait patiently is no longer an option, it's no longer a choice I can make because I played the last card I had, and my time is running out. I put my life on the line in order to have a chance at a future out of the shadows. Now the DREAM Act is the only chance I have to stay home. Please help us pass the DREAM Act so that no more youth have to risk it all by putting their lives on the line.
Sincerely,
Lizbeth Mateo
The "DREAM Now" letter series is inspired by a similar campaign started by the Servicemembers Legal Defense Network for the repeal of Don't Ask Don't Tell. The letters are produced by Kyle de Beausset at Citizen Orange with the assistance of America's Voice. Every Monday and Wednesday DREAM-eligible youth will publish letters to the President, and each Friday there will be a DREAM Now recap.
Approximately 65,000 undocumented youth graduate from U.S. high schools every year, who could benefit from passage of the DREAM Act. Many undocumented youth are brought to the United States before they can even remember much else, and some don't even realize their undocumented status until they have to get a driver's license, want to join the military, or apply to college. DREAM Act youth are American in every sense of the word -- except on paper. It's been nearly a decade since the DREAM Act was first introduced. If Congress does not act now, another generation of promising young graduates will be relegated to the shadows and blocked from giving back fully to our great nation.
This is what you can do right now to pass the DREAM Act:
1. Sign the DREAM Act Petition
2. Join the DREAM Act Facebook Cause
3. Send a fax in support of the DREAM Act
4. Call your Senator and ask them to pass the DREAM Act now.
5. Email kyle at citizenorange dot com to get more involved
The "DREAM Now Series: Letters to Barack Obama" is a social media campaign that launched Monday, July 19, to underscore the urgent need to pass the DREAM Act. The Development, Relief, and Education for Alien Minors (DREAM) Act, S. 729, would help tens of thousands of young people, American in all but paperwork, to earn legal status, provided they graduate from U.S. high schools, have good moral character, and complete either two years of college or military service. With broader comprehensive immigration reform stuck in partisan gridlock, the time is now for the White House and Congress to step up and pass the DREAM Act!
Dear Mr. President,
My name is Lizbeth Mateo and I am undocumented. On May 17th, on the 56th anniversary of Brown v. Board of Education, I, along with Mohammad Abdollahi, Yahaira Carrillo and two others, became the first undocumented students to risk deportation by staging a sit-in inside Senator McCain's office in Tucson, Arizona, to demand the immediate passage of the DREAM Act. As a result of that sit-in we were arrested, turned over to ICE, and we now face deportation.
I came to this country when I was fourteen-years-old from Oaxaca, Mexico. It was the late nineties and Mexico was, and is still, facing one of the worst socio-economic and political periods in recent history. For my parents - a taxi driver and a stay-at-home-mom that were struggling to make ends meet- it was clear that they would have to choose between seeing their children starve and get sick, or risk it all, leave everything behind and relocate the family to Southern California with hopes of a better future. In 1998 we moved to Los Angeles and have lived here, since.
Their choice and sacrifice paid-off. I didn't only become the first one in my family to graduate from high school, but a couple of years ago I became the first one in my family to graduate from college. I graduated from California State University, Northridge and I am currently in the process of applying to law school. My dream is to become an attorney and defend the most vulnerable in the courts of law.
Life as an undocumented student has not been easy, it's been filled with tough choices and a lot of uncertainty. At one point I felt like the only way to fulfill my dream of higher education was to leave my family behind and go back to Mexico. But California had become my home and so I chose to stay despite the uncertain future ahead. Against all odds I enrolled in college, and it was there that I first learned about the DREAM Act. From the moment I heard about this piece of legislation I decided to work hard and advocate for its passage. It's now been seven years since that day and the DREAM Act has yet to become a reality.
Despite overwhelming support, Congress has been unwilling to pass the DREAM Act. It is because of that inaction that earlier this year I had to decide whether committing civil disobedience would be worth the risk of being forcibly separated from my family, and deported to a place I no longer consider home. I made a choice, forced in part by the lack of courage from our leaders in Congress and inspired by your call to change, the "change [that] will not come if we wait for some other person or some other time." Just as I had chosen to work on your campaign inspired by what you said, that "we are the ones we've been waiting for. We are the change that we seek," I also chose to face my fears, to risk it all, to seek that change, and sit-in so that the DREAM Act could stand alone.
Some say that destiny is not a matter of chances but one of choices. My life and that of my fellow Dreamers has been filled with tough choices, some made by us and some made by others on our behalf. Two months after five of us chose to risk it all for our futures, because we knew that without the DREAM Act we had no future, twenty-one others chose to risk it all for a dream that belongs to us as much as it belongs to our families, our communities, and our home - the United States of America.
I firmly believe that we have made the right choice - to stand up for what we believe in and to try to fulfill the promise of the great American Dream that brought us here in the first place. I firmly believe that we, the undocumented youth, are standing on the right side of history. Now I ask that you stand with us by making the right choice. Help us pass the DREAM Act immediately. Help us free our DREAMs, which have for too long been held hostage to political rhetoric and insensitive choices by a few that have yet to recognize the potential that we have as young, educated people.
Mr. President, staying strong and facing my challenges with courage and dignity while I wait patiently is no longer an option, it's no longer a choice I can make because I played the last card I had, and my time is running out. I put my life on the line in order to have a chance at a future out of the shadows. Now the DREAM Act is the only chance I have to stay home. Please help us pass the DREAM Act so that no more youth have to risk it all by putting their lives on the line.
Sincerely,
Lizbeth Mateo
The "DREAM Now" letter series is inspired by a similar campaign started by the Servicemembers Legal Defense Network for the repeal of Don't Ask Don't Tell. The letters are produced by Kyle de Beausset at Citizen Orange with the assistance of America's Voice. Every Monday and Wednesday DREAM-eligible youth will publish letters to the President, and each Friday there will be a DREAM Now recap.
Approximately 65,000 undocumented youth graduate from U.S. high schools every year, who could benefit from passage of the DREAM Act. Many undocumented youth are brought to the United States before they can even remember much else, and some don't even realize their undocumented status until they have to get a driver's license, want to join the military, or apply to college. DREAM Act youth are American in every sense of the word -- except on paper. It's been nearly a decade since the DREAM Act was first introduced. If Congress does not act now, another generation of promising young graduates will be relegated to the shadows and blocked from giving back fully to our great nation.
This is what you can do right now to pass the DREAM Act:
1. Sign the DREAM Act Petition
2. Join the DREAM Act Facebook Cause
3. Send a fax in support of the DREAM Act
4. Call your Senator and ask them to pass the DREAM Act now.
5. Email kyle at citizenorange dot com to get more involved
Wednesday, August 25, 2010
DREAM Now Letters to Barack Obama: Carlos A Roa, Jr.
By kyledeb
Cross-posted from Citizen Orange http://www.citizenorange.com/cgi-bin/mt/mt-tb.cgi/917
The "DREAM Now Series: Letters to Barack Obama" is a social media campaign that launched Monday, July 19, to underscore the urgent need to pass the DREAM Act. The Development, Relief, and Education for Alien Minors (DREAM) Act, S. 729, would help tens of thousands of young people, American in all but paperwork, to earn legal status, provided they graduate from U.S. high schools, have good moral character, and complete either two years of college or military service. With broader comprehensive immigration reform stuck in partisan gridlock, the time is now for the White House and Congress to step up and pass the DREAM Act!
Dear Mr. President,
My name is Carlos and I'm a 23 year old undocumented immigrant from Caracas, Venezuela. I want to legalize my immigration status in this country through the passage of DREAM Act this year. For too long have I lived in the U.S. without papers. It has been over 20 years, now. I want to legalize my immigration status in order to fulfill my dreams of becoming a young professional in architecture.
There are obstacles in my daily life that make it extraordinarily difficult to pursue a career in architecture. Fortunately, because of my determination to continue my studies after graduating high school in 2005, I'm currently a student in Miami Dade College. It has not been without great difficulty. For many years it felt as if all the potential I developed in high school was for nothing.
I am the perfect example of other students in similar situations whose voices have been silenced by the fact that we are not truly accounted for. We are afraid of speaking up because doing so might affect our immigration status in this country and possibly even lead to deportation. I myself felt this way for several years, but after dealing with my status for so long, I now consider it a duty to speak up for myself and for other youth in my shoes.
I remember that dark and cold feeling of shame, fear and hopelessness.
After the death of my mother--the person I was closest to in my life--I'd constantly ask myself what is to come of me? Where is my life going? If it wasn't for her strength and desire to see me succeed, I would not have devoted myself to this cause in her memory. If it wasn't for her love--her incredible affection transcending my existence--I would not have been able to conquer the fear of being undocumented. My love of humanity has manifested itself through the fight for immigrant rights.
That's why I was one of four undocumented youth that participated on a 1500 mile walk from Miami, FL to Washington D.C. known as the Trail of Dreams.
I encourage you to present this letter U.S. Congress, Mr. President, so that the voice of one undocumented immigrant echoes the voice of millions. I hope that the Congressional Hispanic Caucus can have the vision to push for the DREAM Act this year. It would be be a dream for so many families, fathers and mothers just like mine, to see their children on the path towards legalization and professional degrees.
I consider it a colossal loss for society that young Americans, such as myself, find it extremely difficult to continue our studies after high school graduation. We are unable to work legally, unable to join the Armed Forces, unable to legally obtain a driving license, and unable to apply or receive most scholarships. Economically supporting our families under these circumstances is impossible.
Our legalization would greatly contribute to our communities and make this country a better place. As young professionals we would open businesses, create jobs, pay taxes, and play a much stronger role rehabilitating the economy, just like any other hardworking U.S. citizen.
Please give us the opportunity to contribute to the only country we know as our home, Mr. President. Please step up and help us pass the DREAM Act, this year.
Sincerely,
Carlos A. Roa, Jr.
The "DREAM Now" letter series is inspired by a similar campaign started by the Servicemembers Legal Defense Network for the repeal of Don't Ask Don't Tell. The letters are produced by Kyle de Beausset at Citizen Orange with the assistance of America's Voice. Every Monday and Wednesday DREAM-eligible youth will publish letters to the President, and each Friday there will be a DREAM Now recap.
Approximately 65,000 undocumented youth graduate from U.S. high schools every year, who could benefit from passage of the DREAM Act. Many undocumented youth are brought to the United States before they can even remember much else, and some don't even realize their undocumented status until they have to get a driver's license, want to join the military, or apply to college. DREAM Act youth are American in every sense of the word -- except on paper. It's been nearly a decade since the DREAM Act was first introduced. If Congress does not act now, another generation of promising young graduates will be relegated to the shadows and blocked from giving back fully to our great nation.
This is what you can do right now to pass the DREAM Act:
1. Sign the DREAM Act Petition
2. Join the DREAM Act Facebook Cause
3. Send a fax in support of the DREAM Act
4. Call your Senator and ask them to pass the DREAM Act now.
5. Email kyle at citizenorange dot com to get more involved
Cross-posted from Citizen Orange http://www.citizenorange.com/cgi-bin/mt/mt-tb.cgi/917
The "DREAM Now Series: Letters to Barack Obama" is a social media campaign that launched Monday, July 19, to underscore the urgent need to pass the DREAM Act. The Development, Relief, and Education for Alien Minors (DREAM) Act, S. 729, would help tens of thousands of young people, American in all but paperwork, to earn legal status, provided they graduate from U.S. high schools, have good moral character, and complete either two years of college or military service. With broader comprehensive immigration reform stuck in partisan gridlock, the time is now for the White House and Congress to step up and pass the DREAM Act!
Dear Mr. President,
My name is Carlos and I'm a 23 year old undocumented immigrant from Caracas, Venezuela. I want to legalize my immigration status in this country through the passage of DREAM Act this year. For too long have I lived in the U.S. without papers. It has been over 20 years, now. I want to legalize my immigration status in order to fulfill my dreams of becoming a young professional in architecture.
There are obstacles in my daily life that make it extraordinarily difficult to pursue a career in architecture. Fortunately, because of my determination to continue my studies after graduating high school in 2005, I'm currently a student in Miami Dade College. It has not been without great difficulty. For many years it felt as if all the potential I developed in high school was for nothing.
I am the perfect example of other students in similar situations whose voices have been silenced by the fact that we are not truly accounted for. We are afraid of speaking up because doing so might affect our immigration status in this country and possibly even lead to deportation. I myself felt this way for several years, but after dealing with my status for so long, I now consider it a duty to speak up for myself and for other youth in my shoes.
I remember that dark and cold feeling of shame, fear and hopelessness.
After the death of my mother--the person I was closest to in my life--I'd constantly ask myself what is to come of me? Where is my life going? If it wasn't for her strength and desire to see me succeed, I would not have devoted myself to this cause in her memory. If it wasn't for her love--her incredible affection transcending my existence--I would not have been able to conquer the fear of being undocumented. My love of humanity has manifested itself through the fight for immigrant rights.
That's why I was one of four undocumented youth that participated on a 1500 mile walk from Miami, FL to Washington D.C. known as the Trail of Dreams.
I encourage you to present this letter U.S. Congress, Mr. President, so that the voice of one undocumented immigrant echoes the voice of millions. I hope that the Congressional Hispanic Caucus can have the vision to push for the DREAM Act this year. It would be be a dream for so many families, fathers and mothers just like mine, to see their children on the path towards legalization and professional degrees.
I consider it a colossal loss for society that young Americans, such as myself, find it extremely difficult to continue our studies after high school graduation. We are unable to work legally, unable to join the Armed Forces, unable to legally obtain a driving license, and unable to apply or receive most scholarships. Economically supporting our families under these circumstances is impossible.
Our legalization would greatly contribute to our communities and make this country a better place. As young professionals we would open businesses, create jobs, pay taxes, and play a much stronger role rehabilitating the economy, just like any other hardworking U.S. citizen.
Please give us the opportunity to contribute to the only country we know as our home, Mr. President. Please step up and help us pass the DREAM Act, this year.
Sincerely,
Carlos A. Roa, Jr.
The "DREAM Now" letter series is inspired by a similar campaign started by the Servicemembers Legal Defense Network for the repeal of Don't Ask Don't Tell. The letters are produced by Kyle de Beausset at Citizen Orange with the assistance of America's Voice. Every Monday and Wednesday DREAM-eligible youth will publish letters to the President, and each Friday there will be a DREAM Now recap.
Approximately 65,000 undocumented youth graduate from U.S. high schools every year, who could benefit from passage of the DREAM Act. Many undocumented youth are brought to the United States before they can even remember much else, and some don't even realize their undocumented status until they have to get a driver's license, want to join the military, or apply to college. DREAM Act youth are American in every sense of the word -- except on paper. It's been nearly a decade since the DREAM Act was first introduced. If Congress does not act now, another generation of promising young graduates will be relegated to the shadows and blocked from giving back fully to our great nation.
This is what you can do right now to pass the DREAM Act:
1. Sign the DREAM Act Petition
2. Join the DREAM Act Facebook Cause
3. Send a fax in support of the DREAM Act
4. Call your Senator and ask them to pass the DREAM Act now.
5. Email kyle at citizenorange dot com to get more involved
Thursday, July 15, 2010
DREAM University!
On July 14, 2010, “the gates to higher education opened wide, as all those Dreams deferred are accepted and cordially invited to Washington DC to be the inaugural class of DREAM University”. Sponsored by United We Dream Network, and preceding the National DREAM Graduation, it is the kick off to a mass mobilization intended to pressure Congress to pass the DREAM Act before the August recess. The youth attending Dream University come from all walks of life, citizens, immigrants and undocumented, and to many, being there represents a hardship and a sacrifice, and indeed a risk. DREAMers came to the U.S. as children and grew up as Americans, and their only wish is to be allowed to fully contribute to the only homeland they know. Many of them dream of serving the military. Others would be teachers, nurses, policemen, doctors and scientists. But due to their immigration status, there is currently no way to make their hopes and dreams come true. DREAM University will provide attendees with the tools and strategies to lobby Congress and increase public support of the cause. If you would like to attend or participate, please contact carlos@unitedwedream.org. If you can not attend you can donate at ourdream2005@gmail.com. Please also take the time to sign the DREAM Act petition if you have not already.
PASS THE DREAM ACT NOW!
PASS THE DREAM ACT NOW!
Tuesday, June 29, 2010
ASU president pushes for passage of 'Dream Act'
Crow sent a two-page letter recently to four U.S. senators who are supporters of the legislation and/or in leadership roles in the Senate. ASU officials said they also sent the letter to some other members of Congress, including those from Arizona.
It was signed by eight other university presidents, including Mark G. Yudof, president of the University of California system, and Charles B. Reed, president of the California State University system. The letter urges Congress to pass the measure as stand-alone legislation or as part of comprehensive immigration reform.
The letter says that undocumented high school graduates who want to obtain a college education are being thwarted by the country's dysfunctional immigration system.
"These are students brought to the United States as children, innocents caught up in the middle of the immigration debate," the letter says. "The decision to come to this country was not theirs. But America is the only home they have known and they have spent their young lives being good students, working hard and staying out of trouble."
The letter goes on to detail the benefits of a college education: higher wages, lower crime rates and less likely to end up on public assistance.
Over the past year, various college presidents have come out in support of the Dream Act, including Harvard President Drew Gilpin, University of Pennsylvania President Amy Gutman and Tufts University President Lawrence Bacow, among others.
The latest version of the "Dream Act," introduced in March 2009 would apply to people under age 35 who entered the U.S. before age 16 and have been in the country at least five consecutive years. They have to graduate from a U.S. high school, or have obtained a GED or be accepted at a college or university. They also have to be of "good moral character," although the legislation doesn't define exactly what that means. Students would get conditional permanent residency, meaning they couldn't be deported for being here illegally while they are in school. They would eventually be able to apply for legal residency and then to be a U.S. citizen.
The letter signed by the college presidents asks Congress to go a step further and allow Dream Act students to be eligible for federal financial aid. Illegal immigrants currently cannot get federal financial aid, such as federal student loans or Pell grants, to attend school.
The letter was also signed by presidents from the University of Washington, the University of Minnesota, the University of Utah, Washington State University, the University of New Mexico and Wayne State University in Detroit, Mich.
The letter was sent to Sen. Richard Durbin (D-Ill.), the sponsor of the 2009 Dream Act legislation, Sen. Charles Schumer (D-New York), Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-South Carolina) and Sen. Richard Lugar (R-Indiana). Durbin sponsored the legislation and Lugar and Schumer are co-sponsors.
crossposted from LiveWireBlog/azcentral.com
Thursday, April 1, 2010
Get Ready Cause We're Coming Back
Two weeks ago, over 200,000 people of all colors, creeds, and socioeconomic levels, from all over our nation, marched on Washington to deliver a simple message: Mr. President, members of Congress, we want the change you promised us.
That such a large amount of people should gather in a peaceful and orderly manner is an accomplishment in and of itself. We have testament of the power of the march in Nezua's moving, beautiful video. It was an amazing experience for all that participated;our own DREAM Act cohort was represented by hundreds of students from all over the nation. For myself, it was a chance to finally meet face to face many of the amazing DREAMers I have gotten to "know" online over the past two years.
However, if like me you surfed TV and the net that night looking for coverage,to judge the amount of coverage the national media gave the March for America, it might as well have been a few hundred rather than hundreds of thousands. Insulting when you consider the coverage given to every half assed teabagger gathering. But healthcare legislation passed that night, so we ended the day with hope.
But right now, my patience and hope is wearing a little thin. While Congress keeps playing politics with people's lives, detentions and deportations are on the rise, and we have tragedies like Gustavo Rezende's; as his hopes and dreams died so did his will to live. I will not stand for any more losses. So get ready,Mr. President and members of Congress, because we are coming back on May 1st. No more stalling. We'll be at your doorstep. We won't slow back down, we won't be pacified with vague promises. We will keep rallying,writing and calling until you stand up and do the job for which you were elected.Fulfill your promise and PASS THE DREAM ACT!
That such a large amount of people should gather in a peaceful and orderly manner is an accomplishment in and of itself. We have testament of the power of the march in Nezua's moving, beautiful video. It was an amazing experience for all that participated;our own DREAM Act cohort was represented by hundreds of students from all over the nation. For myself, it was a chance to finally meet face to face many of the amazing DREAMers I have gotten to "know" online over the past two years.
However, if like me you surfed TV and the net that night looking for coverage,to judge the amount of coverage the national media gave the March for America, it might as well have been a few hundred rather than hundreds of thousands. Insulting when you consider the coverage given to every half assed teabagger gathering. But healthcare legislation passed that night, so we ended the day with hope.
But right now, my patience and hope is wearing a little thin. While Congress keeps playing politics with people's lives, detentions and deportations are on the rise, and we have tragedies like Gustavo Rezende's; as his hopes and dreams died so did his will to live. I will not stand for any more losses. So get ready,Mr. President and members of Congress, because we are coming back on May 1st. No more stalling. We'll be at your doorstep. We won't slow back down, we won't be pacified with vague promises. We will keep rallying,writing and calling until you stand up and do the job for which you were elected.Fulfill your promise and PASS THE DREAM ACT!
Tuesday, March 9, 2010
In 12 more days, Mr. President
The time has come to collect on your promises, President Obama.
WE answered your call. WE believed. WE stumped for you and we
voted for you. WE delivered, Mr. President- but have you?
You promised us change within the first 100 days.
We have passed that mark four times over and seen absolutely nothing
except increased raids and deportations. We’ve had enough
of waiting and enough of being put off with vague promises of immigration reform.
We’ve had enough of having friends and loved ones living
a half-life in the shadows because of a broken immigration
system that has failed both immigrants and our communities.
We are sick of the labels, lies and manipulation attempts to
splinter the country into factions divided along race and
class lines. We helped bring your dream to life, Mr. President;
it’s your turn to bring our DREAM to fruition.
In twelve days, we are making a stand
and making our voices heard loud and clear. We are coming together
brown and white, old and young, queer and straight, rich and poor,
from all around the country. Our message is simple:
we demand that Congress take up immigration reform NOW,
and pass the DREAM Act as the first meaningful step in the process.
WE answered your call. WE believed. WE stumped for you and we
voted for you. WE delivered, Mr. President- but have you?
You promised us change within the first 100 days.
We have passed that mark four times over and seen absolutely nothing
except increased raids and deportations. We’ve had enough
of waiting and enough of being put off with vague promises of immigration reform.
We’ve had enough of having friends and loved ones living
a half-life in the shadows because of a broken immigration
system that has failed both immigrants and our communities.
We are sick of the labels, lies and manipulation attempts to
splinter the country into factions divided along race and
class lines. We helped bring your dream to life, Mr. President;
it’s your turn to bring our DREAM to fruition.
In twelve days, we are making a stand
and making our voices heard loud and clear. We are coming together
brown and white, old and young, queer and straight, rich and poor,
from all around the country. Our message is simple:
we demand that Congress take up immigration reform NOW,
and pass the DREAM Act as the first meaningful step in the process.
Monday, March 1, 2010
Why the anti immigration movement fears the DREAM Act
Just yesterday I watched a video of the Trail of Dreams walkers as they joined a NAACP protest of a KKK rally. The white robes said the same ugly old things they always say; onlookers shook their heads in dismay. The hate and the ignorance went hand in hand with the tired old arguments these anti-immigration and nativist groups trot out to justify their racist crusade. And as usual they fall flat in the face of reality.
To claim that immigrants, documented or not, are guilty of having a free ride on the back of taxpayers is asinine. Immigrants pay sales taxes property taxes and regular taxes; the undocumented simply do not use a large majority of the public services they help fund. The same holds for crime waves on undocumented immigrant; in actuality they are more likely to be victimized and not seek help from the police. Lastly, to assert that they steal jobs from “real Americans” is false as well - in many cases they create more jobs and even rescue communities from economic downturn.
DREAM Act eligible students represent the absolute opposite of every stereotype ever dredged up by anti immigrant wingnuts .Remember, when we talk about DREAM Act students, we are talking about young students who exhibit the best of what we expect from all our children: academic success and the desire to succeed even further. They have defied the odds and many accomplish the highest honors. They are not responsible for their undocumented status, having come to the US with their parents as children; to attempt to punish them for something that was entirely out of their hands smacks of persecution and racism. There is ample proof of the benefits that a community and the nation as well stand to reap when the handicap of undocumented status is removed from these students and they are permitted to fully participate and contribute to society. And so DREAMers are the nativists’ worst nightmare, and the best argument for defeating this newest wave of anti immigrant sentiment that is sweeping our country.
We need to ask people to check their real-life experiences against the negative rhetoric they hear on the media. Americans need to answer these questions: have you personally lost a job, been victimized by, or been disadvantaged by an undocumented person? The honest answer will uniformly be NO. Look around you America, rip the scales of ignorance from your eyes. Demand that Congress stop holding the lives of thousands of student hostage and take the first step to fix our broken immigration system by passing the DREAM Act.
To claim that immigrants, documented or not, are guilty of having a free ride on the back of taxpayers is asinine. Immigrants pay sales taxes property taxes and regular taxes; the undocumented simply do not use a large majority of the public services they help fund. The same holds for crime waves on undocumented immigrant; in actuality they are more likely to be victimized and not seek help from the police. Lastly, to assert that they steal jobs from “real Americans” is false as well - in many cases they create more jobs and even rescue communities from economic downturn.
DREAM Act eligible students represent the absolute opposite of every stereotype ever dredged up by anti immigrant wingnuts .Remember, when we talk about DREAM Act students, we are talking about young students who exhibit the best of what we expect from all our children: academic success and the desire to succeed even further. They have defied the odds and many accomplish the highest honors. They are not responsible for their undocumented status, having come to the US with their parents as children; to attempt to punish them for something that was entirely out of their hands smacks of persecution and racism. There is ample proof of the benefits that a community and the nation as well stand to reap when the handicap of undocumented status is removed from these students and they are permitted to fully participate and contribute to society. And so DREAMers are the nativists’ worst nightmare, and the best argument for defeating this newest wave of anti immigrant sentiment that is sweeping our country.
We need to ask people to check their real-life experiences against the negative rhetoric they hear on the media. Americans need to answer these questions: have you personally lost a job, been victimized by, or been disadvantaged by an undocumented person? The honest answer will uniformly be NO. Look around you America, rip the scales of ignorance from your eyes. Demand that Congress stop holding the lives of thousands of student hostage and take the first step to fix our broken immigration system by passing the DREAM Act.
Saturday, December 12, 2009
Why I dream of change
I'm Puerto Rican, so I can't call myself an immigrant. But I have lived as an immigrant abroad, I have been the other , the outsider looking in, and know very well how hard it is, getting used to life in a place where everything is strange. Picture how many more magnitudes of difficulty are involved then when your hands are tied by a lack of papers.
I've had the pleasure and the privilege to meet and befriend people from many different countries and from all walks of life, and through their stories I was educated to the reality just how difficult it can be to immigrate to the US. I thought i had heard it all: the endless waiting, the requests for document after document, the ridiculously convoluted rules, the fees, the crooked lawyers that stiff you out of your savings and produce no results. Yet was has fired me up the most is the plight of the undocumented students brought here as children or infants. The fact that you could grow up, go to school and strive for excellence and to get to the top and then have your life come to a dead screeching halt seemed surreal. But its all too true for thousands of youths across the land. Motto schooled me in his reality, and introduced me to many other students, who like himself, are high achieving, hard working, and have defied huge odds to become budding community leaders. It is that drive, that spirit to not only improve their personal situation but to change things for the better, ensuring that no one has to run the rat maze of obstacles with which they have been forced to deal that inspired me to become actively involved in the push for immigration reform. I refuse to stand by and do nothing while the gifts and talents of people who have enriched their communities and schools, who have shown so much promise, go to waste. I can't stand the racists and bald opportunists who rant about "criminal"and "illegal" when the topic of immigration is discussed and whose only solution is "deport them all!". They have absolutely no clue about the sacrifices, fear, worries, and hardships that have been surmounted by Dreamers and their families. I don't want to see one more family torn apart, or see any more Dreamers placed under the threat of what amount to exile.
This process has not been without personal cost. My family disdains politics, looks askance at my activism, and is pessimistic about the effects of our campaigns, they are offended by the buttons and the t-shirts; they've gone as far as to try and curtail the extent of my involvement. It is hard going when your allegiances are questioned. But I take my inspiration from each victory, whether large or small, and from the amazing tireless pro migrant community. And most of all, from all the Dreamers. They keep me going.
And this keeps me going too.
I've had the pleasure and the privilege to meet and befriend people from many different countries and from all walks of life, and through their stories I was educated to the reality just how difficult it can be to immigrate to the US. I thought i had heard it all: the endless waiting, the requests for document after document, the ridiculously convoluted rules, the fees, the crooked lawyers that stiff you out of your savings and produce no results. Yet was has fired me up the most is the plight of the undocumented students brought here as children or infants. The fact that you could grow up, go to school and strive for excellence and to get to the top and then have your life come to a dead screeching halt seemed surreal. But its all too true for thousands of youths across the land. Motto schooled me in his reality, and introduced me to many other students, who like himself, are high achieving, hard working, and have defied huge odds to become budding community leaders. It is that drive, that spirit to not only improve their personal situation but to change things for the better, ensuring that no one has to run the rat maze of obstacles with which they have been forced to deal that inspired me to become actively involved in the push for immigration reform. I refuse to stand by and do nothing while the gifts and talents of people who have enriched their communities and schools, who have shown so much promise, go to waste. I can't stand the racists and bald opportunists who rant about "criminal"and "illegal" when the topic of immigration is discussed and whose only solution is "deport them all!". They have absolutely no clue about the sacrifices, fear, worries, and hardships that have been surmounted by Dreamers and their families. I don't want to see one more family torn apart, or see any more Dreamers placed under the threat of what amount to exile.
This process has not been without personal cost. My family disdains politics, looks askance at my activism, and is pessimistic about the effects of our campaigns, they are offended by the buttons and the t-shirts; they've gone as far as to try and curtail the extent of my involvement. It is hard going when your allegiances are questioned. But I take my inspiration from each victory, whether large or small, and from the amazing tireless pro migrant community. And most of all, from all the Dreamers. They keep me going.
And this keeps me going too.
Friday, September 25, 2009
A Reaction
I have been appalled at the quantity of vitriol and misinformation that is apparent in all media outlets regarding the efforts to increase support for DREAM Act and immigration reform. Not surprised, mind you, but sincerely taken aback. I know it is common practice to blame others for whatever current wrong ails the country, especially if those others speak funny and look different. Common, and ignorant, yet has not stopped us from committing that particular wrong time and again throughout our history.
Every single immigrant group has been a target for discrimination and outright abuse, condoned by our government. From the 19th century to the present there has been public and active opposition to each successive incoming group. We had anti Germans, anti Irish, anti Chinese, anti Italian, anti Polish, anti Jews, anti Japanese groups. Yet as a nation we overcame those nativist fits and those groups are now firmly part of the American melting pot. This latest and virulent outpouring of anti immigration hate represents ( I hope) another growing pain for our nation.
All the arguments commonly employed against immigration fail miserably when used against students who stand to benefit from the DREAM Act. They speak the language and are clearly assimilated and have amply proven their ability and resourcefulness. No services and education were "stolen" as some anti groups claim- they improve the economy since they spend money on products and services just like everybody else, and property, state and federal income taxes have been paid by the majority.Rather the reverse holds true as services funded have NOT been used.And DREAMers do not take employment away rather they increase the quality of the workforce by raising the bar.
Instead of closing your minds against the thousands of students that through no fault or choice of their own find themselves in this undocumented limbo, please understand the issue at hand.DREAM students may not have been born in the US but they are as thoroughly American as any born citizen. Their achievements in the face of adversity embody the American spirit and are worthy of admiration.
Imagine for a minute being ripped from your home and dropped in a place you may not even have a memory of, where you may only know the rudiments of the language,where you have no resources or support. If we saw the story of a young American stranded in these conditions we would demand immediate rescue. Yet those of you that stand in pig headed righteousness, screaming Illegal is ILLEGAL! SEND THEM BACK! are calling to do exactly that- EXILE young Americans. They are raised and educated and lived AS AMERICANS. And they are acting upon they values they have absorbed. Fighting for what is just and fair and morally right and to not give up. Is that not the quality of citizen you want working to improve our nation? Or do you prefer the kind that sits around and whines about how bad things are and looks for scapegoats?
By disenfranchising DREAMers and barring access to full integration we are cheating ourselves out of their abilities and education and throwing away the investment we've already made. We lose thousands that could be hardworking full contributors to our society. The human cost alone is entirely unbearable and unacceptable
The DREAM Act is a fair and humane way to both correct one of the many dysfunctionalities in the broken immigration system and would allow us to reap the immense promise and ability these students represent. PASS THE DREAM ACT NOW!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Every single immigrant group has been a target for discrimination and outright abuse, condoned by our government. From the 19th century to the present there has been public and active opposition to each successive incoming group. We had anti Germans, anti Irish, anti Chinese, anti Italian, anti Polish, anti Jews, anti Japanese groups. Yet as a nation we overcame those nativist fits and those groups are now firmly part of the American melting pot. This latest and virulent outpouring of anti immigration hate represents ( I hope) another growing pain for our nation.
All the arguments commonly employed against immigration fail miserably when used against students who stand to benefit from the DREAM Act. They speak the language and are clearly assimilated and have amply proven their ability and resourcefulness. No services and education were "stolen" as some anti groups claim- they improve the economy since they spend money on products and services just like everybody else, and property, state and federal income taxes have been paid by the majority.Rather the reverse holds true as services funded have NOT been used.And DREAMers do not take employment away rather they increase the quality of the workforce by raising the bar.
Instead of closing your minds against the thousands of students that through no fault or choice of their own find themselves in this undocumented limbo, please understand the issue at hand.DREAM students may not have been born in the US but they are as thoroughly American as any born citizen. Their achievements in the face of adversity embody the American spirit and are worthy of admiration.
Imagine for a minute being ripped from your home and dropped in a place you may not even have a memory of, where you may only know the rudiments of the language,where you have no resources or support. If we saw the story of a young American stranded in these conditions we would demand immediate rescue. Yet those of you that stand in pig headed righteousness, screaming Illegal is ILLEGAL! SEND THEM BACK! are calling to do exactly that- EXILE young Americans. They are raised and educated and lived AS AMERICANS. And they are acting upon they values they have absorbed. Fighting for what is just and fair and morally right and to not give up. Is that not the quality of citizen you want working to improve our nation? Or do you prefer the kind that sits around and whines about how bad things are and looks for scapegoats?
By disenfranchising DREAMers and barring access to full integration we are cheating ourselves out of their abilities and education and throwing away the investment we've already made. We lose thousands that could be hardworking full contributors to our society. The human cost alone is entirely unbearable and unacceptable
The DREAM Act is a fair and humane way to both correct one of the many dysfunctionalities in the broken immigration system and would allow us to reap the immense promise and ability these students represent. PASS THE DREAM ACT NOW!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Tuesday, August 11, 2009
Waiting and hoping
Waiting,hoping,waiting. Living in the paperless shadows must be like spending time in hell's waiting room. The endless waiting is bad, but what lies on the other side of the door is so many times worse. You try to distract yourself. You may even succeed for a little while. But in the back of your head that clock is ticking away.
There have been some good news. But after some very important victories at the beginning of the summer,and in direct contradiction to President Obama's previous promises, now comes the news that Immigration reform may be delayed. WHAT?! So I spend ages try to scrounge up every last bit of information available on DREAM and CIR and glean some positive feeling from it despite the bulk of what s available being negative nativist and just plain ignorant. Which wonk is right? Who is most correctly predicting what will come? Am I doing enough? Am I being loud enough? Have I contacted enough relevant people? Who else can I involve that will kickstart the reform movement to the forefront? Working on those answers.
And meanwhile daily life drags on. With all its petty concerns draining what little energy and patience I may have left.I am not complaining, don't get me wrong. I'm very aware of the privileges available to people like me. What grates is the fact that the extreme effort and hard work of others, who have earned those privileges ten times over, goes unrewarded, and is ignored and belittled.
But right now,while waiting on bureaucrats to make a decision that will change the course of one life, the waiting consumes me.
There have been some good news. But after some very important victories at the beginning of the summer,and in direct contradiction to President Obama's previous promises, now comes the news that Immigration reform may be delayed. WHAT?! So I spend ages try to scrounge up every last bit of information available on DREAM and CIR and glean some positive feeling from it despite the bulk of what s available being negative nativist and just plain ignorant. Which wonk is right? Who is most correctly predicting what will come? Am I doing enough? Am I being loud enough? Have I contacted enough relevant people? Who else can I involve that will kickstart the reform movement to the forefront? Working on those answers.
And meanwhile daily life drags on. With all its petty concerns draining what little energy and patience I may have left.I am not complaining, don't get me wrong. I'm very aware of the privileges available to people like me. What grates is the fact that the extreme effort and hard work of others, who have earned those privileges ten times over, goes unrewarded, and is ignored and belittled.
But right now,while waiting on bureaucrats to make a decision that will change the course of one life, the waiting consumes me.
Friday, April 24, 2009
S.W.E.R. Town Hall Meeting for Dream
April 13th SWER (Students Working for Equal Rights) hosted an outstanding Town Hall meeting in the Wolfson campus of MD College. Over 120 attendees listened to presentations that went from MDC administrators and student government representatives to community representatives, all declaring their strong support For DREAM Act.
Even more moving were the personal stories shared by several Dreamers in the audience. It was a deeply affecting to the rest of the attendees to judge by the numerous comments they shared. We NEED more of these events that not only educate our peer citizens about DREAM but also put a real human face on what each DREAMer has had to overcome, the personal cost of living a half life and waiting in limbo. This is in my opinion the best way to counteract the opposition, when they attempt to label dream students as criminals, or dehumanize us as just numbers. If our peers can relate to our experience they will then become supporters. In this way we create a personal stake in each of those supporters, and ensure their commitment and efforts towards enactment of DREAM Act.
Even more moving were the personal stories shared by several Dreamers in the audience. It was a deeply affecting to the rest of the attendees to judge by the numerous comments they shared. We NEED more of these events that not only educate our peer citizens about DREAM but also put a real human face on what each DREAMer has had to overcome, the personal cost of living a half life and waiting in limbo. This is in my opinion the best way to counteract the opposition, when they attempt to label dream students as criminals, or dehumanize us as just numbers. If our peers can relate to our experience they will then become supporters. In this way we create a personal stake in each of those supporters, and ensure their commitment and efforts towards enactment of DREAM Act.
Wednesday, April 15, 2009
Tom Tancredo faces DREAM protesters
I guess Mr. Tancredo got some rowdy visitors during his anti-illegal/DREAM opposing speech. Serves him right, however nobody here at LIFE BY DREAM condones any sort of radical, violent, illegal behavior in any way/shape/form.
"The scheduled talk by former Republican Congressman and presidential candidate Tom Tancredo at University of North Carolina-Chapel Hill Tuesday night was cut very short by raucous, angry student protesters."
"The night's only moment of calm followed. Tancredo offered to listen to students' protests, if they would listen to him, and then began to discuss his views on higher education and illegal immigrants. Tancredo said he had been invited to speak in opposition to the DREAM (Development, Relief and Education for Alien Minors) Act, proposed federal legislation that would allow the children of illegal immigrants to gain citizenship through college education or military service.
A student group Youth for Western Civilization (YWC) invited Tancredo to speak at UNC-CH. Riley Matheson, the senior who started the Chapel Hill chapter of YWC, attempted to introduce Tancredo, but was largely drowned out by the crowd.
"You believe in white people's superiority, you fuck!" one student shouted, to cheers.
Tancredo ran for the Republican presidential nomination in 2008 on an admittedly single-issue platform: Stopping illegal immigration. While in Congress, Tancredo—the grandson of Italian immigrants—introduced the Mass Immigration Reduction Act, which would have placed a moratorium on all immigration, legal or otherwise, into the U.S., except for family members of current citizens."
"UNC-CH junior Rupert Campbell, one of the protest's organizers, walked through the crowd, handing out anti-YWC flyers."Free speech is laudable to the extent that hate speech isn't part of it," he said. Campbell, who compared YWC to the Hitler Youth movement in pre-World War II Germany, said the protest wasn't necessarily organized to drown Tancredo out. "We just wanted to make our voices heard. We wanted to raise awareness of equality."
Thursday, March 26, 2009
ACTION ALERT!!! NATIONAL DREAM ACT CALL IN DAY
Ladies and Gents, today IS the DAY!
As per DREAMACTIVIST.ORG the DREAM Act is set to be introduced today!
TAKE ACTION NOW!!!
Ask everyone you know to call into Congress in support of the DREAM Act.
Dial 202-224-3121 to be connected to your member of Congress and say something similar to the following:
"Hi! My name is ____________ and I am a student at the (your campus) and a voter in your district. I am calling in conjunction with students from across the country to urge our elected officials to support the DREAM Act amendment to expand access to higher education for high school graduates who were brought to the U.S. years ago as undocumented children. I support the DREAM Act because it will increase opportunities for 360,000 qualified high school graduates who are currently denied their dream to an education.
Can I count on _(Elected Official’s Name)__ to support the DREAM Act in this session of congress? Thank you for your time and I look forward to your support."
To find out the names of your Congressmen, go here
and type your zip code in the box. Remember if you live away from home while in school you have more than one zip code to use.
CALL NOW!! ALL DAY!!! GET YOUR FRIENDS TO CALL!!!
As per DREAMACTIVIST.ORG the DREAM Act is set to be introduced today!
TAKE ACTION NOW!!!
Ask everyone you know to call into Congress in support of the DREAM Act.
Dial 202-224-3121 to be connected to your member of Congress and say something similar to the following:
"Hi! My name is ____________ and I am a student at the (your campus) and a voter in your district. I am calling in conjunction with students from across the country to urge our elected officials to support the DREAM Act amendment to expand access to higher education for high school graduates who were brought to the U.S. years ago as undocumented children. I support the DREAM Act because it will increase opportunities for 360,000 qualified high school graduates who are currently denied their dream to an education.
Can I count on _(Elected Official’s Name)__ to support the DREAM Act in this session of congress? Thank you for your time and I look forward to your support."
To find out the names of your Congressmen, go here
and type your zip code in the box. Remember if you live away from home while in school you have more than one zip code to use.
CALL NOW!! ALL DAY!!! GET YOUR FRIENDS TO CALL!!!
Wednesday, March 25, 2009
Bringing the DREAM to the Hill
This past weekend I had the privilege to meet many of this country's best and brightest, in the heart of our nation. Many fellow Dreamers made the trip to DC and shared their stories and efforts with students from all over the US. It was inspiring to see so many young, vital people intent on bringing to the attention of our country's leaders the importance of DREAM act, and uplifting to see how many came forward and committed to helping make DREAM a reality.
I had the opportunity to visit the DC offices of several of our Congressmen and -women, and I am happy to report that they were all supportive of DA. However that was not the experience for all the students participation on this Lobby Day. We need to maintain all the alliances forged during this fabulous weekend and solidify support especially in those states where the leadership is resistant to enactment of DREAM Act. Please check in often as we ll be posting alerts on all the actions taking place in order to disseminate information and have maximum positive impact. Again, many thanks to USSA leadership for choosing to promote DREAM Act during this year's LegCon.
I had the opportunity to visit the DC offices of several of our Congressmen and -women, and I am happy to report that they were all supportive of DA. However that was not the experience for all the students participation on this Lobby Day. We need to maintain all the alliances forged during this fabulous weekend and solidify support especially in those states where the leadership is resistant to enactment of DREAM Act. Please check in often as we ll be posting alerts on all the actions taking place in order to disseminate information and have maximum positive impact. Again, many thanks to USSA leadership for choosing to promote DREAM Act during this year's LegCon.
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