Over 20 undocumented youth risk arrest, deportation, stage sit-in at congressional offices on Capitol Hill
Tuesday, July 20, 2010


The Dream is Coming


For Immediate Release
Juan Escalante 407.602.8675
dreamactmedia@gmail.com and media@thedreamiscoming.com


Washington, D.C. Today, July 20th, over 20 undocumented immigrant youth from all over the country are risking arrest and deportation as they stage sit-ins at various congressional offices in Washington D.C. in order to urge congressional leadership to take action and pass the DREAM Act, a narrowly-tailored, bipartisan bill which would grant immigrant youth a path to citizenship. According to recent surveys by First Focus, 70% of the American public supports the DREAM Act.


They are holding sit-ins in the offices of the following elected officials: Senator Menendez, Senate majority leader Reid, Senator Feinstein, Senator McCain, and Senator Schumer.


Erika Andiola of Arizona states, “My parents sacrificed everything for me so I could pursue the American Dream. To deny my dreams is to deny the dreams of my parents. I’m doing this for them.” Andiola is a graduate of Arizona State University and holds a bachelor of arts in psychology.


After two months of coast-to-coast actions, including dozens of sit-ins, civil disobedience actions, and protracted hunger strikes by both undocumented youth and community members, they have decided to bring the cause of their lives to Washington D.C. The immigrant youth participating in today’s action hail from Illinois, Virginia, New York, California, Arizona, Kansas, Missouri, and Michigan.


Rosario Lopez of North Carolina states, “We have nothing to fear anymore except inaction. Our spirits grow stronger every day.” Lopez is a graduate of the University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill, holds a bachelor of science in biology, and aspires to pursuing a PhD. In June, she participated in a 13-day hunger strike in front of Senator Hagan’s office.


Jose Torres of Texas states, “The DREAM Act is the critical first increment in a longer process of immigration reform. We’re here to fight for our dreams and the dreams of our communities.” Torres is a graduate of the University of Texas. He holds a bachelor of arts in business administration and aspires to attend law school.


At least 65,000 undocumented immigrant youth graduate from high schools every year, and many of them struggle to attend institutes of higher education and the military. The DREAM Act will grant youth who traveled to the United States before the age of 16 a path to citizenship contingent on continuous presence in the country, good behavior, and the attainment of at least a two-year university degree or a two-year commitment to the armed forces.


###


The DREAM is Coming project is a collaboration between multiple organizations, including the New York State Youth Leadership Council, the Immigrant Youth Justice League, Dream Team Los Angeles, Kansas Missouri Dream Alliance, Arizona Dream Act Coalition, the Orange County Dream Team, University Leadership Initiative of Texas, Virginia DreamActivist, and DREAMActivist.org.


To read the personal stories of the DREAMers, visit www.thedreamiscoming.com/meet-the-dreamers/
link to http://www.thedreamiscoming.com/2010/07/20/over-20-undocumented-youth-risk-arrest-deportation-stage-sit-in-at-congressional-offices-on-capitol-hill/

Will the Congressional Hispanic Caucus Stand With Immigrant Youth and the DREAM Act?
Monday, July 26, 2010


The Dream is Coming


Listen here to Representative Gutierrez of the Congressional Hispanic Caucus tell the five undocumented youth sitting in Reid’s office that they are responsible for the division in the immigration reform movement.


In response Jose of Texas, Laura of California, Nico of Illinois, Isabel of Virginia, and Erika of Arizona released the following statement, urging the Congressional Hispanic Caucus to step up and publicly support the DREAM Act as a stand-alone bill. Full statement here:


We are calling for action because our present is unbearable.


The DREAM Act cannot be put on hold anymore much less be the subject of false divisiveness. We risk our future and face the real possibility of deportation. At the very least we expect for the Congressional Hispanic Caucus to fight shoulder to shoulder with us on our own terms.


We ask that he respect the need of a win for our community right now and actively work to pass the DREAM Act as a stand alone bill this summer. We are clear when we say we will continue the fight for real immigration reform, however, we must act in consideration of our present reality. We, as undocumented people, are the ones that have to live the consequences of a flawed strategy that keeps us waiting and as such, we demand the required respect to allow us to make decisions in what is, after all, OUR future.


Here is the complete transcript:


Gutierrez: So what is your goal?


Isabel: To pass the DREAM Act.




Gutierrez: And you think your getting arrested is going to do that?
Isabel: We know that Senator Reid has power to put dream for a vote, we’re gonna sit here till he actually does it, till he actually puts on the schedule.


Gutierrez: what if it fails?




Isabel: well we’ll keep fighting for it… we have to take a risk, la vida es un riesgo.




Gutierrez: you know something you guys are all adults, you know what you’re doing, i wish the best for you




Nico: we have Erika from AZ we have Laura from CA Jose from TX Isabel from VA and myself from Illinois and we came here because this is our common goal ….. we’re tired of waiting, we need this to happen, now you guys keep pointing fingers, it’s the republicans… we’re tired of the debates it’s time for action…




Gutierrez: I’m ready to get CIR enacted which includes the DREAM act I think you all know that… listen the last time we were in Washington and DREAMers came we told them we’d take their place on the line as people who would get arrested. Next time i get arrested, i suspect that that may happen, i understand your frustration… i empathize and so the next time as we move forward on this issue … but i think there is movement in the senate and i am not quite sure you’re getting arrested and possibly deported actually advances this… I am not sure that that’s gonna happen. That is why the last time i was in front of the white house i got arrested along with others and the dreamers and left their shoes that they had walked in, symbolically there.




Nico: But nothing really happened that day, and to this day nothing has happened. and you know Luis Gutierrez that’s what we’re trying to get across… we have been waiting and you guys, we keep waiting for you guys, you keep pushing the deadlines back, we are working in the background, and we’re ready to stand up for ourselves and our communities and our families




Gutierrez: i haven’t pushed a single deadline back, the president of the united states scolded me, my colleagues say i shouldn’t be out there doing what i’m doing… don’t you guys read the newspapers? i get criticized by democrats!




Isabel: we do, we appreciate that you support CIR but we all know that’s not gonna happen this year and the DREAM act has a chance and it could be a first step to CIR you know let’s do this (through interruptions by G)… and we believe with all our hearts it does have a chance and that if you all put it up for a vote that it will pass. and after that we will fight along with you for CIR but first we need the DREAM act. we have the bill… S729…




Gutierrez: let me finish, I am not your enemy, i will continue to get people to understand the DREAM act, i have told people, i have met with DREAMers in Washington, dc. i invited all of the members of the CHC… um and 3 of them actually came. if it cannot pass in the senate what does that mean for the rest of us? what does that say for the rest of the movement and frustration and the kinds of divisions it will cause? so, i have said, and we’ve made this very clear to anyone from the DREAM … if the bill comes up, and if it is what we can do, and we will now all know if it’s all we can do, then i say pass it. Umm, but you cannot expect people to turn around and … we disagree with you, we do not disagree with you in terms of our role we disagree with you in terms of your analysis of the present moment. you feel it can pass and that the rest will never pass. we don’t believe that. we still believe, we believe -




Nico: we’re not saying it will never pass -




Gutierrez: …the totality will not pass. Everytime someone says the whole thing cannot pass, only part of it, it weakens us, it divides us, it confuses us, it scatters us all over the place. we once had a united movement for comprehensive immigration reform, now we don’t have a united movement, and that is causing, that is detrimental to the movement for all of us…. I know people that have been waiting 25, 30 years for CIR, families are being divided every day, a thousand deportations every day, you know that and I know that.




Mo: Congressman Gutierrez, Congressman Gutierrez –




Gutierrez: We have to fight and work for all of them –




Nico: Let the youth speak, please –




Mo: Congressman Gutierrez, Congressman Gutierrez, my name is Mohammad, I was one of the youth that was in the sit-in in Senator McCain’s office, on May 17 in AZ, as a result I have been placed in deportation proceedings so for you to sit here and talk to these 5, 6 youth that are sitting in this office, and to put them down, and to constantly tell them instead of supporting them, is a shame. You need to stand up for this community, this is going to continue to happen, and you need to be their ally.




Gutierrez: You made this decision to do this as adults, to take this kind of actions, as adults.




Nico: Because nothing has happened –




Gutierrez: As a member of this movement, as someone who has been involved in it from day 1, I disagree… you cannot…. [recording ends.]


link to http://www.thedreamiscoming.com/2010/07/26/will-the-congressional-hispanic-caucus-stand-with-immigrant-youth-and-the-dream-act/

Reid’s Office Arrests 5 Undocumented Latino Youth
Wednesday, July 21, 2010
For Immediate Release


The Dream is Coming


Juan Escalante 407.602.8675


dreamactmedia@gmail.com and media@thedreamiscoming.com


July 21st, 11:00 am.










PRESS CONFERENCE for the DREAM Act






Undocumented Latina arrested in Senator Reid’s Office states,


“We are tired of waiting. We want action.”






Location: West side of the U.S. Capitol, near the corner of 1st Street, NW and Pennsylvania Avenue, NW at the Spring Grotto


Washington, D.C. Yesterday, June 20th, twenty one undocumented youth staged peaceful sit-ins in congressional offices in order to urge congressional leadership to take action and pass the DREAM Act, a narrowly-tailored, bipartisan bill which would grant immigrant youth a path to citizenship. According to recent surveys by First Focus, 70% of the American public supports the DREAM Act..


Twelve were arrested after dropping a banner reading “Dream Act Now” in the middle of the Hart building lobby. Senator Reid’s office arrested five undocumented Latino youth, followed by four more arrests made in Senator McCain’s office. At the time of this release, all but the four participants who were in McCain’s office have been released from custody.


Updates about the legal situation the participants are facing will be made at the press conference.


Isabel Castillo from Virginia was arrested in Senator Reid’s office: “We are tired of waiting, it’s been ten years, and we need to see some action. Two of Senator Reid’s staff members cried when we told them our stories. We don’t want tears or sympathy anymore, we want action.”


Mohammad Abdollahi, cofounder of DREAMActivist.org and ONEMichigan, is one of the lead organizer of yesterday’s events and was part of a sit-in in Senator McCain’s office on May 17th, after which he was arrested and put into the custody of ICE. “Today, we are proud of all DREAMers who crossed the line and stood up for themselves, their communities, and a better, more just America.”


At least 65,000 undocumented immigrant youth graduate from high schools every year, and many of them struggle to attend institutes of higher education and the military. The DREAM Act will grant youth who traveled to the United States before the age of 16 a path to citizenship contingent on continuous presence in the country, good behavior, and the attainment of at least a two-year university degree or a two-year commitment to the armed forces.


###


The DREAM is Coming project is a collaboration between multiple organizations, including the New York State Youth Leadership Council, the Immigrant Youth Justice League, Dream Team Los Angeles, Kansas Missouri Dream Alliance, Arizona Dream Act Coalition, the Orange County Dream Team, University Leadership Initiative of Texas, Virginia DreamActivist, and DREAMActivist.org.


www.thedreamiscoming.com
link to http://www.thedreamiscoming.com/2010/07/21/reids-office-arrests-5-latinos/

PRESS CONFERENCE ANNOUNCED FOR TOMORROW
Tuesday, July 20, 2010
For Immediate Release


The Dream is Coming


Juan Escalante 407.602.8675


dreamactmedia@gmail.com and media@thedreamiscoming.com


PRESS CONFERENCE ANNOUNCED FOR TOMORROW: DREAM SIT-IN PARTICIPANTS SLATED TO SPEAK, HALF HAVE BEEN RELEASED, HALF REMAIN IN CUSTODY


Today, July 20th, over 20 immigrant youth staged a sit-in in various congressional offices in Washington D.C. to urge congressional leadership to take action and pass the DREAM Act, a narrowly-tailored, bipartisan bill which would grant immigrant youth a path to citizenship.


At the time of this release, all students have been arrested, and several have been released.


The following DREAMers have been released: Sonia Guninansaca, Diana Martinez, Rosario Lopez, Lulu Martinez, Jose Franco, Ricardo Quinonez, Uriel Sanchez, Ireri Unzueta, Eddy Dominguez, David Morales.


The rest remain in custody: Laura Lopez, Jose Don Torres, Isabel Castillo, Erika Andiola, Myrna Orozco, Dulce Matuz, Reyna Wences, Tania Unzueta, and Nicolas Gonzalez.


Senator Reid’s office arrested students before Senator John McCain’s office, the last two offices to issue arrests. It has also been noted that a brief phone call inside Senator Reid’s office with Congressman Gutierrez occurred. Gutierrez attempted to dissuade the students from getting arrested citing that “we [Durbin and Gutierrez] disagree with your strategy on the movement”.


“We continue to hear the exact same thing we have been hearing for 10 years. Will Senator Reid put DREAM Act up for a vote or will he decide to lose the Latino vote? If Democrats are behind Reid then Democrats should be behind us because our communities are behind us. We are not going to deal with your debates any longer. We need action. We risk our freedom to the freedom of millions.” Nicolas Gonzalez, from Chicago, Illinois.


“I came when I was 1. I am 22. I will not wait another 20 years for my petition to be reviewed by a judge. I will do all I can to push the DREAM Act to the floor for a vote, and with civil disobedience one faces criminal charges. I am willing to risk it all for the DREAM Act, and for the future of migrant youth, who like me, graduate from college without the opportunity to use their degrees. I need the DREAM Act now.” Laura Lopez, from California.


There will be a press conference tomorrow discussing today’s events and the urgency of the DREAM Act. The press conference will be tomorrow July 21st, 11:00 am, at the west side of the U.S. Capitol, near the corner of 1st Street, NW and Pennsylvania Avenue, NW at the Spring Grotto.


The events of today symbolize the urgency for the passage of the Dream Act. We need answers, not excuses.


At least 65,000 undocumented immigrant youth graduate from high schools every year, and many of them struggle to attend institutes of higher education and the military. The DREAM Act will grant youth who traveled to the United States before the age of 16 a path to citizenship contingent on continuous presence in the country, good behavior, and the attainment of at least a two-year university degree or a two-year commitment to the armed forces.


For more information, visit www.thedreamiscoming.com, follow @dreamnow on Twitter, and search the hashtag #dreamact on Twitter.


###


The DREAM is Coming project is a collaboration between multiple organizations, including the New York State Youth Leadership Council, the Immigrant Youth Justice League, Dream Team Los Angeles, Kansas Missouri Dream Alliance, Arizona Dream Act Coalition, the Orange County Dream Team, University Leadership Initiative of Texas, Virginia DreamActivist, and DREAMActivist.org.


link to http://www.thedreamiscoming.com/2010/07/20/press-conference-announced-for-tomorrow/

California DREAMers launch Hunger Strike
Tuesday, July 20, 2010
For Immediate Release Tuesday July 20th, 2010


The Dream is Coming


Media Contacts: Nancy Meza (323) 532-3268, Spanish and English California


Hunger Strike for the DREAM ACT


WHAT: Press conference in solidarity with the 20 undocumented students and youth that held a civil disobedience today in Washington D.C. Two of the youth participants are from California, Laura Lopez and Antonia Rivera. We will launch a hunger strike in Los Angeles to urge Senator Feinstein to champion the DREAM Act as a stand alone bill.


WHEN: Wednesday, July 21, 2010 10:30 AM


WHERE: In front of Senator Dianne Feinstein’s Los Angeles office 11111 Santa Monica Boulevard Los Angeles CA90025


WHY: In order to continue to pressure Senator Feinstein to champion the DREAM Act, students and allies are willing to make a physical sacrifice in order to push the DREAM Act forward. Speaking at the press conference will be parents, students, allies, and community leaders from Los Angeles and Orange County. At least 65,000 undocumented immigrant youth graduate from high schools every year, and many of them struggle to attend institutes of higher education. The DREAM Act will grant youth who traveled to the United States before the age of 16 a path to citizenship contingent on continuous presence in the country, good behavior, and the attainment of at least a two-year university degree or a two-year commitment to the armed forces.


link to http://www.thedreamiscoming.com/2010/07/20/california-dreamers-launch-hunger-strike/

There’s a Battle Outside and It Is Still Ragin’
By FRANK RICH
Published: July 24, 2010
The New York Times


THE glittering young blonde in a low-cut gown is sipping champagne in a swank Manhattan restaurant back in the day when things were still swank. She is on a first date with an advertising man as dashing as his name, Don Draper. So you don’t really expect her to break the ice by talking about bad news. “The world is so dark right now,” she says. “One of the boys killed in Mississippi, Andrew Goodman — he’s from here. A girlfriend of mine knew him from summer camp.” Her date is too busy studying her décolletage, so she fills in the dead air. “Is that what it takes to change things?” she asks. He ventures no answer...link to complete article

Record numbers being deported
(Page 1 of 7)
By Peter Slevin
Monday, Jul 26, 2010
The Washington Post


In a bid to remake the enforcement of federal immigration laws, the Obama administration is deporting record numbers of illegal immigrants and auditing hundreds of businesses that blithely hire undocumented workers.


The Immigration and Customs Enforcement agency expects to deport about 400,000 people this fiscal year, nearly 10 percent above the Bush administration's 2008 total and 25 percent more than were deported in 2007. The pace of company audits has roughly quadrupled since President George W. Bush's final year in office.


The effort is part of President Obama's larger project "to make our national laws actually work," as he put it in a speech this month at American University. Partly designed to entice Republicans to support comprehensive immigration reform, the mission is proving difficult and politically perilous.


Obama is drawing flak from those who contend the administration is weak on border security and from those who are disappointed he has not done more to fulfill his campaign promise to help the country's estimated 11 million illegal residents. Trying to thread a needle, the president contends enforcement -- including the deployment of fresh troops to the Mexico border -- is a necessary but insufficient solution.


Your Take: What do you think about the Obama administration's handling of immigration...link to complete article

Pushing for immigrant law and citizen status
The Washington Post
Undocumented students from around the country demand the passage of the Dream Act outside the White House, despite the threat of arrests and deportation.
(10 photos)


A group of undocumented students have been demanding the passage of the Dream Act, which would give unauthorized young immigrants a path to legal residency if they complete a college education or serve in the military.


Yahaira Carrillo consoles her fellow activist Andrea, after she backed out of being arrested inside the Hart Senate Office building...link to complete article

No Visa, No School, Many New York Districts Say
The New York Times
By NINA BERNSTEIN
Published: July 22, 2010


Three decades after the Supreme Court ruled that immigration violations cannot be used as a basis to deny children equal access to a public school education, one in five school districts in New York State is routinely requiring a child’s immigration papers as a prerequisite to enrollment, or asking parents for information that only lawful immigrants can provide...link to complete article

BP Altered Photos of Oil Spill in Gulf of Mexico

British Petroleum admits using Photoshop to exaggerate oil spill command centre activity

Photo on BP's website showed workers monitoring underwater images on video screens that were blank in unaltered image

London Guardian

• Interactive: timeline of a disaster
• In pictures: the clean up

• 
  

• Staff and AP
• guardian.co.uk, Wednesday 21 July 2010 11.13 BST
• Article history

BP acknowledges it posted on its website this altered photo that exaggerates the activity at its Gulf oil spill command center in Houston, on July 16 2010. Photograph: BP LLC

BP acknowledges it posted on its website an altered photo that exaggerates the activity at its Gulf oil spill command centre in Houston.

The picture posted over the weekend showed workers monitoring a bank of 10 giant video screens displaying underwater images.

The spokesman Scott Dean said yesterday that three screens were blank in the original picture and a staff photographer used Photoshop software to add images...link to complete article

Read This and Learn About Climate Change

Stephen Schneider 

London Guardian

Pioneering climate change scientist who fought for informed public engagement

• Myles Allen
• guardian.co.uk, Wednesday 21 July 2010 19.06 BST

 

Stephen Schneider in 2005. His most recent work concerned tracing the influence of greenhouse gas emissions on vulnerable ecosystems and societies Photograph: Peter Dasilva/New York Times

The American climate scientist Stephen Schneider, who has died aged 65 following a heart attack, would have preferred readers to spend their time studying his books and scientific articles, looking at the evidence, doing their own research, making up their minds about climate change and lobbying local politicians – rather than reading his obituary.

Steve believed passionately in evidence, and was always reminding me and other colleagues at meetings of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) not to duck the hard questions. He was the first to recognise that it is precisely because climate change is so uncertain that it is so important to do something about it....link

President of UH Downtown Stands Up for the DREAM Act

William V. Flores Joins Call for DREAM Act

by Reeve Hamilton - Texas Tribune
July 20, 2010  |  2

Enlarge photo by: Caleb Bryant Miller

An estimated 25,000 demonstrators attended the rally in Dallas to protest Arizona's controversial new immigration law.

University of Houston-Downtown President William V. Flores voiced his desire for passage of the DREAM Act (Development, Relief and Education for Alien Minors) this morning. He spoke on a conference call with college presidents from Northern Virginia Community College, Eastern Washington University and the University of California, Berkeley.

If passed by Congress, the DREAM Act would give undocumented immigrants brought to the U.S. as children a shot at permanent residency status, provided they have lived in the country for at least five years without getting in trouble with the law, that they have a high school diploma or equivalency and that they commit to two years of college or military service. According to recent polling, it has widespread support among U.S. voters.

UH-Downtown plays host to about 13,000 students in the middle of, as Flores noted, a "very international city." Approximately 39 percent of the school's students are Hispanic, 29 percent are black, 22 percent white, 5 percent are Asian and 5 percent are international students. Flores said that about 200 or fewer students would be affected by the DREAM Act.

"Tragic" is the word Flores used to describe the plights of students who are held back due to residency status. Many, he said, often can't speak or read their native language because they immigrated at such a young age. He says the DREAM Act would provide a necessary pathway to achievement. "It would be a very unusual way of treating someone to not allow them to contribute," Flores said. "Many of them want to become teachers, doctors, or lawyers and contribute to this society."

On the call, supporters of the act said that while the odds of a congressional vote on more comprehensive immigration reform coming this year appear to be dwindling, it might be easier, in the meantime, to secure passage of the DREAM Act on its own given the bipartisan nature of its support.

DREAMers Risk All in DC

Students disclose illegal status as part of push for immigration law reform

Washington Post  July 21, 2010

Gallery

Pushing for immigrant law and citizen status

Undocumented students from around the country demand the passage of the Dream Act outside the White House, despite the threat of arrests and deportation.

» LAUNCH PHOTO GALLERY

Press Release: 3 Days of Mobilization in Washington D.C.
The Dream is Coming
Saturday, July 17, 2010
For Immediate Release


Juan Escalante 407-602.8675


media@thedreamiscoming.com


July 17th, 2010


IMMIGRANT YOUTH AND COMMUNITY MEMBERS BEGIN 3-DAY ACTION IN WASHINGTON D.C. TO URGE PASSAGE OF THE DREAM ACT




Washington, D.C. On July 19th, hundreds of immigrant youth and community members will begin a three-day action in Washington D.C. to urge congressional leadership to take action and pass the DREAM Act, a narrowly-tailored, bipartisan bill which would grant immigrant youth a path to citizenship.


“We’ve come to fight for our dreams, our parents’ dreams, and the dreams of our communities.” says Lizbeth Mateo, an undocumented student from California and co-founder of Dream Team Los Angeles.


After two months of coast-to-coast actions, including dozens of sit-ins, civil disobedience actions, and protracted hunger strikes by both undocumented youth and community members, they have decided to bring the cause of their lives to Washington D.C.


Yahaira Carrillo, of the Kansas Missouri Dream Alliance “We’ve come to our nation’s capitol for three days to make our presence known and our voices heard. We’re undocumented, but we’re not afraid.”


Mohammad Abdollahi of ONE Michigan states, “Half a century ago, it was young people who sat at lunch counters and in buses, working to desegregate the South. In the spirit of the civil rights movement, we’re here to champion immigrant rights because we can’t wait to be equal anymore- dreams denied are dreams deferred.”


At least 65,000 undocumented immigrant youth graduate from high schools every year, and many of them struggle to attend institutes of higher education and the military. The DREAM Act will grant youth who traveled to the United States before the age of 16 a path to citizenship contingent on continuous presence in the country, good behavior, and the attainment of at least a two-year university degree or a two-year commitment to the armed forces.


Lobbying for the DREAM Act


When: Monday, July 19th, begins at 12:00 pm and Wednesday, July 21st, begins at 1:00 pm.


Where: Senate and House office buildings at the U.S. Capitol.


Dream Graduation Ceremony


When: Tuesday, July 20th, Noon.


Where: West side of the U.S. Capitol. Near the corner of 1st Street, NW and Pennsylvania Avenue, NW at the Spring Grotto (in case of rain, Lutheran Church of the Reformation, 212 E Capitol Street Northeast).




Press Conference Calling for Immediate Passage of the DREAM Act


(Speakers include Senator Durbin, Representative Grijalva, Representative Diaz-Balart)


When: Wednesday, July 21st, 11:00 am


Where: West side of the U.S. Capitol, near the corner of 1st Street, NW and Pennsylvania Avenue, NW at the Spring Grotto.




Rally for the DREAM Act


When: Tuesday, July 20th, 3:00 – 5:00 pm


Where: Rally begins at the west side of the U.S. Capitol, near the corner of 1st Street, NW and Pennsylvania Avenue, NW at the Spring Grotto.
link to http://www.thedreamiscoming.com/2010/07/17/press-release-3-days-of-mobilization-in-washington-d-c/

DC Mobilization: Updates & Information
The Dream is Coming
Friday, July 2, 2010
We are really excited with this upcoming mobilization, we are getting emails from everyone and their mother (literally) asking how they can participate. We want to link everyone together as best we can from here and the easiest way to do that is to have you register if you are interested in coming to DC. We can try to hook you up with a bus or a ride or connect you with others and you can carpool.


States and organizations mobilizing for Washington D.C.:
Arizona – Arizona Dream Act Coalition
California – Orange County Dream Team, Dream Team Los Angeles
Connecticut -
Delaware -
Florida – Dreamactivist Florida
Georgia – Georgia Dreamers
Illinois – Immigrant youth Justice League
Indiana – Latino Youth Collective
Kansas / Missouri – KS/MO Dream Alliance
Kentucky -
Maine – Citizenorange
Maryland -
Michigan – OneMichigan
Montana – DreamActivist MT
New Jersey -
New York – New York State Youth Leadership Counsel
North Carolina -
Ohio -
Oklahoma – Dream Act OK
Pennsylvania – Dreamactivist PA
Tennessee -
Texas – University Leadership Initiative
Virgina – Dreamactivist Virginia
Washington State – Washington Dream Act Coalition
Wisconsin – Voces de la Frontera


These are only the states that we have something confirmed in so far, if you are from one of these states please REGISTER so we can connect you with the organizer of each of these buses / carpools / caravans. If you do not see your state listed and you want to get it listed contact us at mo@dreamactivist.org.


Space is limited so if you have the capacity to organize a bus or even a van then do it and let us know so we can make sure you fill it up
link to http://www.thedreamiscoming.com/2010/07/02/cometodc/

Hunger Striker Hospitalized in North Carolina
The Dream is Coming
Monday, June 28, 2010
June 28, 2010


HUNGER STRIKER HOSPITALIZED
Announcements about the strike to be made tonight at 8PM


RALEIGH—Loida, one of three women on a hunger strike until Senator Kay Hagan (D-NC) co-sponsors the Development, Relief and Education of Alien Minors (DREAM) Act was hospitalized last night after suffering what appeared to be a heat stroke.


Several supporters were among her when she fell ill. Friends and family are with her at this time. While we cannot offer specifics to the press this morning, a full update will be given this evening at 8:00PM at the campsite, located at the intersection of Wilmington Street and Lane Street in downtown Raleigh.


The NC DREAM Team, the name of the hunger strikers and their immediate supporters, had previously scheduled a fellowship event open to the public at the campsite for 8:00PM. Some of this time will now be devoted to updating press and all concerned community members about Loida’s situation and everything that has happened with the hunger strike thus far. We will still be accepting visitors to the campsite.


Any major announcements about the strike will be made tonight.


Efforts to schedule a meeting with the senator have not been successful. Last week, Senator Hagan announced that she would not support the DREAM Act, but it is unclear if she opposes it simply as a stand-alone bill or even if it were included as part of a broader immigration reform measure
link to http://www.thedreamiscoming.com/2010/06/28/hunger-striker-hospitalized-in-north-carolina/

Should Congress Pass on the DREAM Act? (The Hill)
Trail of Dreams


Posted on July 9, 2010 by felipe


http://thehill.com/blogs/congress-blog/politics/107903-the-big-question-should-congress-vote-for-the-dream-act






The Big Question: Should Congress vote for the DREAM Act?
By Sydelle Moore - 07/09/10 01:15 PM ET


Some of the nation's top political commentators, legislators and intellectuals offer insight into the biggest question burning up the blogosphere today.





Today's question:


Should Congress pass the DREAM Act allowing undocumented young people to earn citizenship if they meet certain educational or military service stipulations?




Adey Fisseha, Policy Attorney for the National Immigration Law Center, said:
Absolutely! Enacting the DREAM Act means that we will be in a better position to meet the challenges of a global economy with a better educated, multilingual, multicultural workforce. It also means more money to the federal, state and local governments in the form of social security, payroll and sales taxes to help close current budget shortfalls. Our current immigration system has no path for these US-raised, US-educated students to fully engaging in our economy. Deporting these students or allowing talented college-bound youth to stagnate in low-wage, dead end jobs is a waste of human capital, a squandering of our investment in these kids to date, and betrayal of our long history as a nation of immigrants.


Justin Raimondo, editorial director of Antiwar.com, said:
It's not surprising that, like ancient Rome, we are bribing foreign nationals to join our military on the far frontiers of empire. Another sign of decadence, and the transition from republic to imperium. It makes perfect sense: if we're going to embark on wars of conquest aimed at mostly what we used to call the "Third World," then our military has to look like our subject peoples.


That said, I'm against it.




Peter Navarro, professor of economics and public policy at U.C. Irvine, said:
If you reject an “open border” policy, the next question is, 'What criteria should you use to choose your legal entrants?' With an aging population, the best economic strategy is to attract young, well-educated and preferably affluent immigrants to boost the tax base. The DREAM Act is loosely consistent with this strategy because it makes education a defining variable but the military service component works in the opposite direction as it is likely to simply work as recruiting less educated “cannon fodder.” Ultimately, it would be far preferable to pass a unified immigration law that clearly defines our strategy and implements it accordingly. DREAM is piecemeal and flawed.




Hal Lewis, professor of Physics at U.C. Santa Barbara, said:
We have a history of offering citizenship to non-citizens who have served in the armed services in wartime (I have had distant relatives who got their citizenship that way after World War I), but I know of no history of offering it otherwise. Military service is a gift to the country, and it is not unreasonable to reward it with citizenship. Getting an education is not a gift to the country, and desirable as it might be, earns no such reward. I am also offended by the use of the benign term "undocumented" to describe illegals. It is like calling a bank robber undocumented because he took the money without having an account at the bank. It deliberately misses the point.




Ali Noorani, Executive Director of the National Immigration Forum and Chair of the Reform Immigration FOR America campaign, said:


Should Congress pass the DREAM Act allowing undocumented young people to earn citizenship if they meet certain educational or military service stipulations?


Yes. The DREAM Act is an important component in the fight to reform our immigration system and would strengthen our economic competitiveness. The DREAM Act is bipartisan legislation that would adjust the legal status of young immigrant students who have lived in the US for at least 5 years, earn a high school diploma, show good moral character, and are committed to go to college or enter military service.


Young immigrant students are the overlooked casualties of the immigration debate’s overheated rhetoric. They were brought to the U.S. as children through no fault of their own, were raised in America, educated in America and think of themselves as Americans. Many long to earn a college degree or serve the country in uniform but they face a dim future of dead-end jobs because they are stuck in a paperwork trap.


The DREAM Act addresses the purgatory-like status of these young immigrant students who are ready to give back to America – their home – through hard work and service. This bipartisan bill offers a practical solution. It defies common sense to put higher education out of reach for hard working immigrant students. Doing so won’t force them to leave our country—the only country they call home, It would, however force them to remain in the underground workforce while America is deprived of the increased economic productivity and tax revenues provided by a better-educated workforce.


Young men and women who are willing to fight and die for this country or who are ready to contribute with their hard work should be able to participate in the great opportunity that is America. The Dream Act rejects the unacceptable waste of young talent and puts America in the position to benefit from the talents, service, and contributions of a new generation of hard working young immigrants.


link to http://www.trail2010.org/blog/2010/jul/9/should-congress-pass-dream-act-hill/

Tell Senator Durbin Your Dreams!
Trail of Dreams
Posted on July 1, 2010 by gaby




Tell Senator Durbin Your Dreams!






Senator Dick Durbin, the lead sponsor of the DREAM Act, is gathering the stories of young people who would be eligible for the DREAM Act.






The DREAM Act is a bipartisan bill that would give a select group of immigrant students the chance to earn legal status. You may be eligible for the DREAM Act if:


· You came to the United States as a child (15 or under);


· You are a long-term U.S. resident (five years or more); and


· You have graduated (or will graduate) from high school or have obtained (or will obtain) a GED;


Senator Durbin needs your help as he works to pass the DREAM Act. Telling the stories of DREAM Act students is the best way to build support for the bill. If you are a DREAM Act student, send your story toDreamers@durbin.senate.gov. Tell Senator Durbin:


· When did you come to the United States?


· Where did you come from?


· Where do you live?


· Where are you going to school?


· What are you studying?


· What are your hobbies?


· What would you like to do when you graduate?


· What are your dreams for the future?


· Have you ever been in deportation proceedings?


Some of the stories will be posted on the DREAM Act page of Senator Durbin’s website.


At your request, your name and/or your story will be kept strictly confidential.

link to http://www.trail2010.org/blog/2010/jul/1/tell-senator-durbin-your-dreams/