¡Alto Arizona!

Let DREAMers Lead, Allies Must Follow

By David Bennion on December 19, 2010 11:55 PM | from CitizenOrange.com

It's been hard for me to set fingers to keyboard to organize my thoughts about yesterday's Senate vote blocking the DREAM Act. I have a lot of thoughts and emotions swirling around inside right now. Even before the vote, I felt stymied--anxious about the bill's prospects, angry at the obstinate ignorance displayed by opponents, and frustrated at my own feelings of powerlessness.

If there is any cause for optimism in this dark moment, it is that the DREAM movement has now come into its own. Dreamers will never again be token poster children held up to support someone else's agenda--the enforcement first, legalization later agenda unsuccessfully promoted by President Obama, Democrats, and national advocacy groups.

That agenda failed, the plans that others made for Dreamers failed, and at the end of it all, advocacy groups and politicians jumped on board the DREAM Act bandwagon because it was the only legislative vehicle that was moving, the only one that had even left the factory. And the primary reason the DREAM Act got as far as it did this legislative session was because of the activism of Dreamers: the hunger strikes, the 1500-mile Trail of Dreams march, the acts of civil disobedience targeting key legislators, the Dreamers coming out to journalists, and hundreds of other actions around the country planned and executed by Dreamers themselves.

As we look for a way forward, it is important to think about what has worked and hasn't worked so far. With this in mind, I want to address a few key groups.

ABC's Diane Sawyer Puts a Face to Victims of #SB1070

by Jorge Rivas
Thursday, July 29 2010, 11:20 AM EST

Yesterday, in a segment titled "The Conversation: My Undocumented Life" ABC's Diane Sawyer interviewed a young woman named Erika, an undocumented Arizona resident who has been in the U.S. since age 11. Sawyer produced a beautiful short interview where she put a face to those being affected by the harsh policies going in to affect today in Arizona.

"Turning the Tide on Immigration Enforcement," National Women and Children’s Advocacy Day, Washington, DC, July 15, 2010

On July 15, women and children from around the country gathered in Washington D.C. to share their stories and shine a light on the real life impact of immigration enforcement policies, such as Arizona’s SB1070, 287g agreements and the so-called “Secure Communities” programs, on families. The women and children gave personal accounts of how these programs threaten future generations of immigrant families in the U.S. Their testimony was a way of saying "enough is enough" to legislation and policies that spread fear, violate people's civil rights and tear families apart.

The testimonies were presented at a hearing titled, "Impact of Immigration Enforcement Policy on Children," chaired by Congressman Raul Grijalva (D-Arizona).

Several children gave their testimony on this day. Below are the transcripts from 2 of the children who gave their testimony that day:

Mariana C.

"My name is Mariana C. I am seven years old. I am from Lakewood, New Jersey. My mom is a member of New Labor. I don't like the law SB 1070 because it separates families. I don't live in Arizona but I am scared that that law might come to New Jersey because I'll get separated from my parents. I tell God and the president and the people who help him to do something so they can stop this law and all children can be with their parents forever. Thank you."

Aldo M.

"I'm eight years old. I live in Lakewood, New Jersey. My mom is a member of New Labor. I want to stop the law 1070 because I don't want them to separate me from my mom and dad. They came here to work not to do something bad. They only want a better life for us. They're only workers, they only want to work. I am scared that they will take them away. They are hiding from policemen. I am a kid and I want all children to be happy. My voice represents the voice of the children in Arizona. Thank you for listening. Thanks."

Case deepens #immigration debate

Backers say Harvard student is poster child for Dream Act

By Maria Sacchetti, Globe Staff / June 20, 2010

CAMBRIDGE — The memory is a blurry snapshot in his mind. Eric Balderas was 4 years old, curled up under covers on a raft. He could see the sun poking through the sky, hear whispers above him, and feel the swell of the Rio Grande below.

It was the day his family crossed the border illegally from Mexico into the United States — a day that shadowed him all his life and until Friday threatened to derail his extraordinary rise from the son of a factory worker, to high school valedictorian in Texas, to Harvard college student.

In Washington DC, testifying before Congress.

Today I testified before Congress, the Home Land Security Department, as well as the Department of Labor in Washington DC, and a huge coalition of wombyn’s and children’s rights.  I testified along side of four other strong and powerful wombyn who have been affected by the racist policies in Arizona like SB1070 and 287(g). I carried a special and important message Stop SB1070, terminate 287(g), and pass the DREAM Act as a stand-alone bill.

I cannot believe that I am in the nations capitol at this time. I have never been to DC before and it is an honor to be here on such an important and urgent mission.

Below is the message I had to share:

Fixing #immigration - It won’t be easy to address this divisive issue, but we should at least dare to DREAM (#dreamact)

HOUSTON CHRONICLE
June 5, 2010, 5:14PM

In the slugfest that passes for our national conversation these days, immigration is the sorest subject of all. We all agree that the United States' laws need to be reformed. But how can we as a nation figure out what to do when we can't even discuss the subject in polite company?

The American Jewish Committee National Bridging America Project recently dared to hold that conversation, with the goal of finding common-sense middle ground on the subject. In Houston, the group convened a task force that represented business, education, law enforcement, health care, ethnic communities and religious groups. (A member of the Houston Chronicle editorial board also participated.) Their recommendations, published in last Sunday's Outlook section, strike us as good starting points for reform.

With Diplomas in Hand, but Without Legal Status (#dreamact)

By FERNANDA SANTOS
Published: June 4, 2010

Stories of hardship are easy to find among community college students, and the class of 2010 at Queensborough, in Queens, is no different.

Among its 1,627 graduates are a 70-year-old grandmother and a young man with cerebral palsy who got a standing ovation when he received his diploma at the commencement ceremony on Friday.

More than a rite of passage, graduation offered a chance at a promising new beginning for most of them — but not all.

Gladys Veronica Juca was the student government president and earned a 3.6 grade point average. She is also an illegal immigrant, one of several such graduates who walked away into a future with uncertain job options and limited options of government aid to continue their schooling.

“Sometimes I ask myself, you have a diploma, now what?” said Ms. Juca, 20, her auburn hair cascading over her shiny black gown.

Queensborough Community College has about 15,000 students from 140 countries. The graduates on Friday — a multinational cast with surnames like Baptiste, Chang, Garzón, Kumar and Mohamed — speak 58 languages and include many who are the first in their family to receive a higher-education degree.

Eduardo J. Martí, Queensborough’s president, calls it “an academic Ellis Island,” a place that is open to all, where immigration status means nothing.

Hunger Strikes Used by Immigration Reform Advocates - Hunger Striker Lost 20 Pounds in Protest #dreamact

By KIMBERLY BROWN, June 7, 2010

Just a few weeks after graduating from Columbia University, Yadira Alvarez, an undocumented immigrant from Mexico, is in her seventh day of a hunger strike in front of Sen. Charles Schumer's Manhattan offices.

She is one of a small group of young immigrants who are putting their health on the line, and for some of them, risking the unwanted attention of immigration authorities, in an effort to persuade the lawmaker to push a bill that could finally give some of them -- and many thousands of other young undocumented immigrants -- a path to legal status in this country.

"We can't be spectators anymore," said Alvarez, 22, who came to the United States in 2000 under a tourist visa.

Her group, the New York State Youth Leadership Council, began its hunger strike after failing in a series of tamer tactics, including petitions, phone banking, rallies, vigils and a "die-in" involving lying down on the floor of Schumer's, D-N.Y., offices until they were granted a meeting.

MSNBC Interview with the Trail of DREAMs (#dreamact)

Walking the Dream: We are NOT undocumented (#dreamact)

“I tell everybody here, not to use undocumented, not to use illegal anymore, but rather human beings because we are part of this Earth …….”

Gaby Pacheco, Walking the Dream speaking to the press in the aftermath of arresting Maricopa County Sheriff J. Arpaio, in his office on Tuesday June 1, 2010 and serving him with the Community Indictment in three counts : Violations of Civil Rights, Human Rights, and the Rights of the Children of the Nations and Pueblos of Mother Earth in the Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo Territories.

Sheriff Joe Sits Down with "Undocumented" Students #DreamAct

In an unlikely meeting, Sheriff Joe Arpaio sat down to discuss immigration with five students from Miami, FL, whose parents entered the United States with out documents.

via Youtube.com (SantiagoJJJ)