Napolitano comes out supporting DREAM!

Ok, so this means a lot coming from Janet Napolitano. I hope that she keeps her word when it comes to voting and asking for the support of others in DC. Her voice and support will bring a lot of weight towards DREAM.

link to video of hearing

Napolitano Ducks on Immigrant Legalization

By Daphne Eviatar 5/6/09 12:23 PM

At the Senate Judiciary Committee’s oversight hearing this morning, Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano carefully skirted repeated questions about her views of whether longtime undocumented immigrants living in the United States ought to get a chance at legalization.

Although Napolitano did say she supports the DREAM Act — which would provide some children of undocumented immigrants raised in the United States a path to legalization if they complete two years of college or military service — Napolitano carefully avoided questions about whether a comprehensive immigration reform bill should include broader opportunities for legalization of the 11 million or so undocumented immigrants living in the United States. Her refusal to offer an opinion on that highlights just how controversial and politically dicey that issue will be as a new proposal for comprehensive immigration reform gets hammered out over the next few months.

Napolitano’s refusal to sanction legalization seemed to please Sen. Jeff Sessions (R-Ala), the new ranking Republican on the committee, who pressed the issue by saying that while “we need to fix our immigration system,” in his view, “the American people correctly are dubious of a plan that gives lawfulness now to people who came in illegally without confidence that the legal system is going to work in the future.” That “amnesty” would become “a magnet or a message abroad,” he said. “When the American people realize that the broken pipe is being fixed … we can have a far better discussion about how to deal fairly and humanely with people who have been here a long time.” That echoes a common argument from restrictionist quarters that strict border enforcement must precede any considerations of legalization.

Sen. Pat Leahy (D-Vt.), the Judiciary Committee chairman, presented a more sympathetic case for legalizing undocumented immigrants now “living in the shadows” and tried to elicit Napolitano’s support. She wasn’t biting. The secretary refused to say she supports legalization, saying only, in response to Leahy’s question about whether it makes sense to try to deport 11 million people, that “the sheer logistics of doing that are overwhelming.” link

April 5 - Letter from a DREAMER

Today we received this letter from a DREAMER who wishes to remain anonymous:

Dear Undocumented Student,

Tonight I returned from watching the film, “Bajo la Misma Luna,” and I could do nothing else, but think of wanting to share these few words with you.

Do not lose hope. Hope that you will one day experience equality. Hope that you will one day go back and forth freely across imaginary lines. Hope that you will one day be able to walk the streets of that place you call “home.” Hope that one day you will find closure. Hope that one day your wounds will heal.

Do not lose hope. You see, I’m not sure you understand that when you loose hope, a small piece of me dies too.

I walk in your shoes everyday and I know that what I ask for is not an easy thing to do, but for my sake, for your sake, and for the sake of every other who walks in our shoes, do not loose hope.

It is all to easy to be weighed down by all that surrounds us; the constant raids, the constant state of fear, or the constant state of limbo we’re in, but do not give in.

You see, by keeping hope alive, you keep me alive as well. By keeping hope alive, you allow hope to live within me. That hope that comes alive within me, will in turn give hope to another.

Although I cannot promise you a date, I can promise you that you one day you will be free. Free of fear. Free to come and go as you please. Free to walk the streets of that place you call “home.” Free to visit your loved ones. I promise one day you will find closure. I promise one day your wounds will heal. I promise.

I also promise to keep hope alive. For you, for me, and for all those who walk in our shoes, I promise to hope.

I promise.



Sincerely,

“Undocumented” Student

Having the Dream Blues

Sometimes i feel like i should just prolong my time in school. Leaving the university will only take me to a "now what" stage. Graduate school is very feasible actually here in Texas, but the money is hard to put together if you are a DREAMER. However, in Texas it is undoubtedly easier than it is in California to attain financial help and go to school, but it is a challenge nonetheless if you are a DREAMER. I have had to take more than two semester off as well to put money together and be able to pay for school. Sometimes i also feel like i am not fully part of the whole college experience by dropping by for a couple of semester in a row and then taking some time to work and save the money.

Today i read Stephanie's story and unlike her, i have never been mad at my parents for being undocumented, I'm actually thankful to them for everything- they made a choice to come to this country because it is their job to give me and my brother a better life and they have done a wonderful job. I have become the person that i am because of them, i am stronger because of them and they are stronger because of me.

Every day we live not knowing what is going to happen, we live with the reality of the little things that remind us that we are undocumented. This country has a sure way of flicking you in the head and making you internalize fear, anger, sadness. Easy trips such as wanting to join the local gym and having them reject you for not having a state ID is quite a trip really.

I still have the dream that one day i will wake up and not be scared, sad, or upset. The day that i along with my brother and the thousands of dreamers in this country will celebrate our freedom. The day that justice will knock our door.

Struggling with noncitizen status
Hardships of being an undocumented immigrant force student to work long hours to finish school

* Jessica Chou, Daily Bruin staff
* Published: Wednesday, February 20, 2008

They finally broke the news to her after 18 years.

Stephanie Solis’ parents had hoped to hold back for as long as any secret could stay hidden, but it was only a matter of time before they had to tell the fourth-year English student the truth.

Solis was not in the United States legally.

For Solis, who only spoke English and had little recollection of her native Philippines, the notion that she wasn’t legally an American shocked her.

“I don’t feel very Filipino,” Solis said. “I’m told I’m not an American. But the only thing that still rings true to me is the English language.”

Her youth so far had been American in so many ways.

In the living room, her father listened to Rush Limbaugh. In the kitchen, her mother read Us Weekly.

Perhaps the only foreign connection to the Philippines that could have been found in her home was the homemade avocado ice cream in the freezer.

Solis felt so betrayed by her parents for having kept her immigration status from her for so long that she moved out and set out on her own.

Solis remembers sitting at a bus stop roughly a year later watching the cars go by as she waited for the bus that would take her to the train that would whisk her to a job making cardboard boxes.

Her life had become one of compromises – commuting six hours a day on public transit because she couldn’t get a driver’s license and saving up to pay for school.

By 2005, Solis started at UCLA, but because of her immigration status, paying for school was a major burden. Undocumented students are ineligible for financial aid, scholarships and many other types of financial assistance to help pay the fees.

Instead, many undocumented students are forced to pick up odd jobs to pay for their education.

Solis, like many undocumented students, has taken an unusually long time to get her degree.

“I’m in a position where I can’t consistently go to school,” she said.

Forced to take time off from work between quarters of school, Solis has been in college on and off for the last six years.

“There is that inconsistency which removes me from the standard college experience. I don’t feel like I’m integrated into it. I drop in when I can, and I visit when I can afford to for a quarter, and I’m there for 3 months, and I leave,” Solis said.

“And by the time I come back, everybody who was at the same level with me and everybody that I knew has already moved on or has graduated. There is that sense that I’m not going to college with my group – with my peer group. I’m going to college just with myself because I am my only peer group because everyone else is moving along at normal speed.”

Due to her hectic and stressful schedule, she woke up at odd hours and slept very little.

But it was the smaller realities of being undocumented – such as trouble cashing checks and getting a library card – that really got to her.

“It is the subtle things that flick me on the forehead reminding me that there is something wrong with who I am,” Solis said.

With her graduation finally imminent, Solis feels uneasy about what’s to come.

Like many undocumented college graduates, Solis will have difficulty finding a job without proof of legal residence, despite her degree from a top undergraduate program.

“The irony about that is that there is a sense of wanting to continue to prolong being in college simply because once I’m out and I have my degree, there’s nothing that I can really do with it.”

Image obtained here

A new Track for the DREAM Act???

So, it looks like there is BIG hope. A ray of light reamains..... -JR

http://www.insidehighered.com/news/2007/07/19/dream

An amendment that would attach the Development, Relief and Education for
Alien Minors (DREAM) Act to the Department of Defense authorization bill never
made it to the Senate floor Wednesday after Democratic leaders, unsuccessful in
their bid to compel a withdrawal of troops from Iraq, shifted gears to focus on
student loan legislation. Still, the attempt to connect a critical defense bill
with the DREAM Act — which would, among other things, provide a pathway to
permanent residency for undocumented immigrants who undertake at least two years
of college or military service – may represent a shift in strategy for advocates
who have watched the bill long languish amidst contentious and inconclusive
immigration reform battles.
U.S. Senators Richard Durbin (D-Ill.), Chuck
Hagel (R-Neb.) and Richard Lugar (R-Ind.) were expected to introduce an
amendment encompassing the DREAM Act during the debate of the defense
authorization bill that was cut short Wednesday. Sandra Abrevaya, a spokeswoman
for Senator Durbin, said Wednesday afternoon that the majority whip will still
be looking to introduce the amendment whenever the Senate next returns its
attention to the defense authorization bill, and added that, should this
approach ultimately fail, “He’ll look at the very next opportunity.”
In
addition to offering the permanent residency pathway to illegal immigrants who
entered the country before age 16, the amendment also would clarify these
students’ eligibility for in-state tuition (a murky and much-debated issue at present) and, for the first
time, render them eligible for federal student loans and work study. Although
the original DREAM Act was first proposed in Congress in 2001, and was included
in the Senate’s unsuccessful stab at comprehensive immigration reform
this spring, the full House and Senate chambers have yet to take a vote on
the act as a stand-alone measure.
“I think we have a shot at passage; we’re
expecting that it will need 60 votes to prevail because most of the amendments
that have come up have faced a filibuster,” said Jim Hermes, senior legislative
associate for the American Association of Community Colleges, one of 11 higher
education associations that registered support for the DREAM Act in a Tuesday letter from David Ward, president of the American
Council on Education.
“Obviously this is something that is connected to the
overall issue of immigration reform, but this particular issue in terms of
expanding the opportunity to people who were brought here as kids we think is 1)
a less controversial issue and 2) one that speaks to basic issues of fairness
and justice,” Hermes said.
The measure, though less controversial than other
immigration reform proposals, is still likely to face some significant
opposition from lawmakers who don’t want to reward illegal entry into the United
States. “My heart goes out to all those who aren’t in control of their destiny
... but by the same token, the United States needs to be in control of its own
destiny,” Rep. Steve King (R-Iowa) said during a Congressional hearing on undocumented student
issues in May.
Despite the impasse over Iraq that forced the bill off the
floor Wednesday, the authorization act, in some form, is “a must-pass bill,”
Hermes pointed out. “At some point, they’ll have to come back to it.”
“There
are a lot of questions on the broader-based [defense authorization] bill,” said
Melissa Lazarin, associate director for education policy for the National
Council of La Raza. “We’re hopeful that we will have an opportunity to debate
this amendment. But if this vehicle does not work out, we will be identifying
other vehicles to pass this.”
— Elizabeth
Redden

juli