Letters to Senator McCain and Senator Kyl from ASU President Michael Crow

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

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

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!

ASU president pushes for passage of 'Dream Act'

Arizona State University President Michael Crow is pushing for passage of a federal law that would enable illegal immigrant students to remain in the United States, get their college degrees and have a path to citizenship. The bill, called the "Dream Act," has been introduced several times in recent years but has not been approved by Congress.
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

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.

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.

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.

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!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!