DREAM Act
National DREAM Graduation Today
Published June 23, 2009 @ 07:00AM PT
From Pass the Dream Act:
With the Capitol Dome behind them, hundreds of youth from all over the country, along with education, faith, business, immigrant and civil rights leaders are expected to participate in a National DREAM Graduation ceremony, hosted by the United We Dream Coalition (UWD).
Each year, 65,000 immigrant students who graduate from U.S. high schools are barred from pursuing their dreams of higher education. Advocates will underscore the importance of advancing the “DREAM Act” and the “American Dream Act” to give these youth a chance to attend college and pursue their goals.
The acts would restore states’ rights to determine residency requirements for in-state tuition and establish a path to legal status and eventual citizenship for undocumented youth. The graduation ceremony will recognize the talents and significant academic achievements of immigrant students who would benefit from the legislation, highlighting their contributions and service in local communities.
UWD is an immigrant-youth led coalition committed to supporting immigration reform policies that create a pathway to citizenship, keep families together, and promote the social, economic, and political integration of all immigrants.
. . .
The national graduation will be live twittered here and videos uploaded to our Youtube and Vimeo
In addition to serving as Master of Ceremonies and doing the closing speech for the graduation, students from DreamActivist have reached out to other organizations and helped arrange solidarity actions across the United States. For more details, see http://www.dreamactivist.org/dream-graduations-coast-coast/
My Name is Adan and I Am Undocumented
Published June 12, 2009 @ 08:06PM PT
This week's guest Dreamer is Adan. Visit Dreamactivist.org to find out how you can help pass the DREAM Act.
Coming from a low-income Mexican-American family, I have faced many hardships on my path to reaching all my goals and more are yet to come. However, through my dedication hard work and perhaps sometimes ridiculously stubborn determination I have been able to overcome most of them. I was brought to the United States when I was eight years old and entered the fifth grade. Since then I had to overcome a huge obstacle: learn a completely new language without getting behind in any other subject. Surprisingly even to myself, I was fluent enough to carry on conversations by the end of the academic year. In fact, although I wasn’t speaking completely perfect English, I was still being chosen for student of the month among other awards just months from arriving.
I had always excelled in school and coming to a new country and having to learn a new language was not going to change that, it just made me try that much harder. By the end of sixth grade, I was completely fluent and had perhaps fewer grammar and spelling errors than other kids who had been here their entire life. At the beginning of high school, however, I decided that being a regular student like most everyone else was not enough challenge for me, which made me enroll in AP classes not knowing exactly what I was getting into. The AP classes alone were several steps higher than regular classes, but the biggest challenge was breaking the barriers and stereotypes that were set for Mexican-American students and prove to everyone, teachers included, but especially myself that I was capable of being a straight A student in AP classes. With hard work I made my way into the top 10 percent of my graduating class.
CNN Interviews DREAM Act Student
Published June 11, 2009 @ 08:58PM PT
I have to take back some of the bad things I've said about cable news because this story on Anderson Cooper's show about the Dream Act is great, certainly more detailed and effective than any blog post I've written on the subject (which of course doesn't include our weekly guest Dream posts).
Nancy and her classmates are brave, but they are tired of waiting. As reporter Thelma Gutierrez asks:
The law is the law, but it's a fair question: Do we want to turn our backs on the best and the brightest?
Via Dreamactivist.org.
Kids in Jail
Published June 10, 2009 @ 08:35PM PT
Greg Siskind asks "is it right to detain children?" I hope we don't have to think too hard to find the answer.
What is the Proud Act? No one is quite sure, but it's no Dream Act.
Another citizen has been caught up in the deportation and removal machine. The cases we hear about are the ones that get straightened out ... we never hear about all those that don't.
Sotomayor's rulings were well within the judicial mainstream judged against her peers on the Second Circuit.
And here are two perspectives on the Reform Immigration for America conference: one and two. I'd have to say I agree with them both.
Waiting for the Dream Act in New Jersey
Published June 06, 2009 @ 08:16AM PT
In lieu of this week's Dream Act guest post, here is the story of Marisol, a Rutgers University student who went to public schools in New Jersey and now finds her future in limbo.
Via Shadow.
My Name is Julie and I am Undocumented
Published May 29, 2009 @ 08:57PM PT
This week's guest Dreamer is Julie. Visit Dreamactivist.org to find out how you can help pass the DREAM Act.
I moved to the States about a month shy of my 12th birthday. It was a cultural shock for myself and my family, but deep down I understood that it was for the better. This was back in 1992, a year that turned out to be somewhat of a turning point in my country's history (the year Chavez tried to overthrow the government). I was born in Caracas, Venezuela. I moved here with my dad first, then one of my older brothers followed about a month after, and finally another brother and my mom made it about six months later due to the fact that my brother had to finish the semester at college and my mom had stayed to deal with the selling of our house. At first we lived with one of my aunts, my dad's sister, and even though I am grateful for her and her family's hospitality, it was a nightmare! Going from having your own home to living in someone's garage is not my definition of moving up in the world. Basically we had to start from scratch. My dad always worked, had his own business, so he had provided for us throughout most of our lives. My mom had decided to become a stay-at-home mom when my oldest brother was born, and we lived quite comfortably. Our family is quite numerous, full of aunts and uncles, cousins, second and third cousins, so on and so forth. Our life back home was wonderful, but due to the rise of unemployment and crime my father decided that we should move here. I went to a private school back home, where we received about four hours of English lessons per week, I knew some words and sentences, but had no conversational speaking skills yet. My brother and I were enrolled in middle school in an ESOL program, he's two years older than I, but since it was a special program, we had most classes together even though he was in 8th grade and I was in 7th. I was definitely excited about that, because it made it easier for both of us to adjust, at least we had each other to lean on.
We finally managed to move out of my aunt's house into a small two-bedroom apartment. This was another hard situation, since there were five of us: both my parents, my two older brothers and myself. I had never had to share a room with my brothers since I was the only girl, but there was nothing we could do about it, so we just went along with it and "sucked it up" for the time being.
Obama: "I Support the Dream Act 100 Percent"
Published May 28, 2009 @ 09:00AM PT
I missed this item last week, but Obama has gone on the record now as President as supporting the DREAM Act. From his appearance last week on the “Piolín por la mañana” radio show:
“I support the Dream Act 100 percent”, Obama reiterated. “In fact, I am fully committed to education, my administration has raised funds to be invested in education because I want more students to have the opportunity to go to college and have better access to resources such as scholarships and loans.”
Referring to undocumented student specifically, the president expressed “in these times, these students are sons and daughters of the Untied States and is very likely that they will remain in this country”
Obama pointed out that the US needs to make a great decision: Asking them “to remain in this country without an education or a right to work without taking advantage of the academic opportunities that this country offers.”
The president argued that it is necessary to create legal mechanisms for undocumented students to enroll in college but also to create a plan for these students to go to work once they graduate.
“It is necessary that we obtain at least 60 votes in the Senate and a majority in the House of Representatives. This is something we still have to achieve,” Obama indicated.
Once the votes are there, will the President encourage his allies to vote on the bill? Will we see a vote on immigration reform legislation this year? Next year?
If not, when?
(Via Standing FIRM)
