DREAM Act
They Walk Among Us
Published July 26, 2009 @ 10:20PM PT
Why have I posted this seemingly random clip from Craig Ferguson's show earlier this month?
The answer is here where you'll find a second video of Stephanie worth watching.
Taha's Deportation Deferred
Published July 24, 2009 @ 10:42PM PT
I want to thank Prerna for guest blogging here for the last week while I was on vacation.
And I was happy to come back today to the news of another successful campaign to stop the deportation of a Dreamer. As Prerna blogged yesterday, Taha was set to be deported next week, 16 years after he was brought to the U.S. as a toddler from Bangladesh.
Kyle is right that we need now to broaden this effort from a piecemeal case-by-case approach to a comprehensive deferral for Dreamers similar to the one DHS recently implemented for surviving foreign-born spouses of U.S. citizens who died while their green card petitions were being processed. Or better yet, just pass the DREAM Act. That is exactly what Prerna and the other Dreamactivists are trying to get done.
You can be a part of this effort. Visit Dreamactivist.org and the Dream Act Portal to find out what you can do to make sure your local members of Congress support the Dream Act. Watch here and elsewhere in the pro-migrant blogosphere so you can mobilize when necessary to stop individual deportations and ask that DHS not use your tax dollars to deport future scholars and entrepreneurs.
Taha's Deportation Halted!
Published July 24, 2009 @ 10:34PM PT
`Great news - Taha's deportation got deferred today!
Both Senators Lautenberg and Menendez from New Jersey stepped in and wrote letters to DHS on behalf of Taha. Menendez was on mark and pointed out that students like Taha should be allowed to stay in the United States till action is taken on the DREAM Act:
Taha’s story represents compelling evidence of the need for Congress to pass comprehensive immigration reform including the DREAM Act, legislation I have co-sponsored that would provide young people like Taha, who have grown up in the U.S. with a mechanism to remain and fully contribute to the nation that is now their home. As President Obama has said in support of thee DREAM Act, “these students are now children of the United States.” Taha is the kind of person that the DREAM Act is intended to help. He was brought here at a young age, stayed in school, has never been in trouble with the law, and is of good moral character. Our nation benefits more by his presence than by his absence. ..I ask you to defer action on Taha’s deportation and other similar cases. These students have earned the chance to live, continue their education, and work here. I look forward to your response.
The DHS response was positive while embodying a haughty anger. An official told us: “We don’t need to be told how to do our jobs.” However, instead of ‘doing their jobs’ and deporting Taha and his family next Wednesday, they chose to listen and defer their deportation. Taha can now attend college and his mother has received a stay for six additional years till her U.S. citizen son can graduate from high school. That would be plenty of time for the DREAM Act and immigration reform to pass.
Apparently, DHS told Taha’s mom that they wanted the emails and calls to end. In our opinion, given the negative press that ICE is getting, it was smart to not let the Taha deportation case filter into the mainstream media for further negative criticism.
Citizen Orange documents how the undocumented student movement scored this victory:
Dreamactivist.org brought everyone together. Advocates like Josh Bernstein, Joaquin Guerra, and Ali Jost at the Service Employees International Union were instrumental, as was Priya Murthy the Policy Director at South Asian Americans Leading Together. On the ground the New York State Youth Leadership Council was helping out ... At one point I even called up a high school friend of mine from New Jersey to help out, and he dropped everything to go and see Taha.
And we just got back from having an appreciative dinner with Taha and his family. They are all grateful for a chance to remain and contribute to the United States.
As we set our eyes on the prize, it is small victories like these that keep the undocumented youth movement going.
Stop the Deportation of Taha
Published July 23, 2009 @ 12:26PM PT
My family's immigration petition got denied, my dad got deported, and all of my family is upset because of our immigration problems but we still love America with all our hearts. I wish to have the chance to live the better quality life that my teachers have always made me believe every child and adult deserves to have.
-Taha, DREAM Act student from New Jersey, in deportation
Taha is 18 years old and just graduated Dickinson High School in Jersey City, NJ. In November of 1993, his parents brought him to the United States from Bangladash, when he was only 2 years old. He has lived in Jersey City for more than 16 years.
On July 29, 2009, he will be deported to Bangladesh - a country that he neither remembers nor recognizes. Why? His immigration attorney missed a filing date on their application for permanent residency when Taha was a minor.
If Taha return to Bangladesh, he will never have the chance to complete the education he has worked so hard all of his life to acquire. The United States would lose its K-12 investment in Taha.
Taha doesn't read or write Bengali. He doesn't even know its alphabet. Moving back there will mean moving to a foreign country where he'll have to start his life again from scratch.
What Can You Do?
Calling DHS comment line and asking them to not deport Taha. Please use this really easy click to call function http://call.seiu.org/9/calldhs, or call the comment line directly at 202-282-8495-Signing the online petition: http://action.seiu.org/page/s/meettaha
- Co-sign Sen. Menendez's letter on behalf of Taha: http://action.seiu.org/page/s/menendezltr-Join the Facebook group formed for Taha by Walter Lara
-Calling Congressman Sires's office in D.C.at 202-225-7919 to urge him to submit a private bill for Taha!
-Calling Senator Menendez's office in D.C.at 202.224.4744 to urge him to submit a private bill for Taha!
- Calling Senator Lautenberg's office in D.C.at (202) 224-3224 to urge him to submit a private bill for Taha!
Taha has been educated in America, K - 12. He achieved many awards in high school such as Academic Author Award, Principal's Award, Honor Roll and Merit Wall.
His teachers opened his eyes to so many great opportunities in this country. His career dream is to be a pediatrician, working in a clinic or hospital environment, and giving back to our great country that has given him so much.
Taha hopes to attend St. Peter's College in Jersey City, NJ to study Marketing and Pre-Med.
Picture yourself in Taha's shoes. All that he needs help with is getting permission to continue living in the country he loves and calls home so that he can complete his education and spend the rest of his life giving back to the United States - the only home he can ever remember living in.
Deporting Taha, and students like him, is a loss to the United States, in human, moral and economic capital. For the sake of Taha and this country, we dare not let this continue.
Support the DREAM Act T-shirts
Published July 20, 2009 @ 11:01PM PT
Please check out DreamActivist for these latest DREAM Act t-shirts, first sold at the National DREAM Graduation and now available online. The design is courtesy Geek Ink Apparel.
All $$ goes to DreamActivist.org to help us with advocacy, workshops, server costs and lobbying efforts for the DREAM Act.
Walter Lara - Interview Post-Deportation Delay
Published July 20, 2009 @ 09:24PM PT
This past weekend, Walter Lara was on CBS Miami to speak about how he landed up in deportation.
While we await the passage of the DREAM Act and help other students win deferment, another good news is that Walter was admitted to the University of Central Florida.
Black Like Me: On Being Black and Undocumented
Published July 19, 2009 @ 05:03PM PT
I am black and I am undocumented. I might be a student, a woman, a daughter, 
a sister, and a friend, but my world as I know it today is a product of those first two identities.
I was born in Nigeria. I was sent to the U.S. on a tourist visa when I was six years old. My senior year in high school, I found out that I was undocumented, and the summer after I graduated, we were put in removal proceedings. It has now been 3 years since then, and I’m about to enter my 4th year in college, though we are still in removal proceedings.
I am black. I identify as black simply because it’s a physical trait of mine that is quite obvious to any casual observer. Growing up in the public school system in the United States, I learned about African-American history in the context of America’s history. In history classes, we were taught about slavery in America, segregation, Jim Crow laws and the unimaginable horrors that African-Americans of generations past have had to face. In political science classes, we spoke of the Civil Rights Movement, Martin Luther King Jr. and all of the positive changes that era spurred. In literature classes, we read the work of Zora Neale Hurston and Langston Hughes, and spoke of the Harlem Renaissance. I learned about the importance of triumph over adversity, perseverance, and the words I hope to ring true in the lives of DREAMers one day: “Free at last; free at last; thank God almighty, we are free at last.”
But it was never my history. Being black, I can relate to some of the everyday struggles with racism and the proliferation of stereotypes surrounding the African-American community. I know what it feels like to be discriminated against simply because you look different, or simply because you belong to a minority group. However, I’ve been confusing people all my life by not being the person they expect me to be simply by looking at me; confusing people by defying stereotypes. It usually starts when they hear my voice, a voice with no African accent because I’ve lived here so long, and a voice they hear as more “Valley girl” than “brown-skinned girl.” From the clothes I wear to the way I choose to wear my hair, I feel judgment upon me from all directions. Questions when people learn I played tennis in high school instead of playing soccer or running track. I’ve been called an “Oreo” more times than I can count, which is a pejorative term that means black on the outside, white on the inside.
