kyledeb, Author at Progress Pond

We Will Be Watching: Victory for the DREAM Act

Originally posted at Citizen Orange.

The fate of almost a million lives could be decided in the next six hours. As a voter, as a millenial, as a migrant, as a Guatemalan, I’m writing to say that I will be watching along with the vast majority of those who will determine the future of the United States of America.

If you already haven’t heard already, Harry Reid is going to offer the Development, Relief, and Education for Alien Minors (DREAM) Act up as an amendment to the National Defense Authorization Act. The Senate is scheduled to vote on taking up the Act tomorrow at 2:15 p.m. If you haven’t called you’re Senator yet in the support of the DREAM Act please do so now by calling:

888-254-5087

It is imperative that you focus on these Senators. If you’ve called already, call again. If you’ve called again, ask five friends to do the same. If you’ve done all that, here are some more actions you can take.
If you haven’t heard about the DREAM Act yet I wouldn’t be surprised. The media has largely been focused on the train wreck that is Christine O’Donnell’s campaign. But the mainstream media is missing out on one of the most suspenseful political dramas I’ve ever witnessed. No one knows if we have the votes to beat the filibuster in the Senate, today. If we don’t beat it, the National Defense Authorization Act will likely have to wait until after the elections. At that point, all bets are off.

One of the most compelling elements of this political drama has been the interaction between The LGBT movement and the migrant youth movement. What to an outsider might be perceived as two unrelated constituencies, perhaps even hostile to each other, have been working long before this moment to build unity and solidarity. It is one thing to believe in the truth that we are all woven into a “single garment of destiny.” It is another to live that truth and act on it. The migrant youth movement and the LGBT movement having been living and acting on that truth, as we all should. My freedom is tied up with the freedom of everyone else in the universe, and tomorrow we have a chance to set close to a million people free.

Again, the media hasn’t been watching but everyone who matters everyone who will decide the future of this country is watching. The DREAM Act has been front-page news on major Spanish language newspapers all week, and featured heavily on Spanish language television. The U.S.’s largest and fastest growing minority, Latinos, is watching, today. Educators and students from around the country have organized for and come out in support of the DREAM Act. The next generation is watching, today. Facebook and twitter have blown up with mentions of the DREAM Act, and traffic on the sites covering the DREAM Act is through the roof. Business leaders, religious leaders, and military leaders have all come out strong in support of the DREAM Act. If the Senate fails to move the DREAM Act forward today, we will all be watching and we won’t just remember this November, but for the rest of our lives.

The next generation isn’t just watching whether the DREAM act will move forward, but whether the repeal of Don’t Ask Don’t Tell (DADT) will move forward. Lady Gaga has galvanized youth for the repeal of DADT with her extensive twitter and facebook following in a way that probably hasn’t been seen seen Barack Obama was elected.

According to a poll commissioned by First Focus, 70% of the U.S. public supports the DREAM Act. Multiple polls show that a majority of the U.S. public supports the repeal of DADT. Republicans, for the most part, are floating arguments about procedure. They are saying that Democrats are playing politics with the National Defense Authorization Act. Republicans are playing politics, too, and have used the procedure of the filibuster to grind the Senate to a halt for two years. Playing politics is what politicians do. The public doesn’t care about politicians playing politics or what procedures are used as long as Congress does their job and gets things done. It’s time for Congress to get two things done that the majority of Americans support.

Republicans, especially, face an important choice, today. They can please their increasingly regional extremist base and relegate themselves to irrelevancy for a generation, or they can do the right thing and be competitive with the next generation of voters.

If we win, today, we will face an even steeper uphill battle, but we will all be watching. Failure has not entered into my mind. We will pass the DREAM Act and DADT will be repealed. It is no longer a question of if, but a question of when. The time is now and whomever stands in the way will regret it for a long time.

Pressure Mounts For Moderate Republicans To Support the DREAM Act

Originally posted on Citizen Orange.

Senator George LeMieux (R-FL) is starting to feel the heat of pro-migrant voters, specifically Latino voters. Tonight, Univision will air a debate in which current Florida governor and U.S. Senate nominee Charlie Crist will come out in support of the DREAM Act. The day before yesterday, Representive Kendrick Meek (D-FL), and also a nominee for U.S. Senate, hand delivered a letter to LeMieux. This part of Meek’s letter says it all:

It is important to note that the State of Florida stands much to gain from the passage of this legislation. By alowing certain youths an opportunity at a solid education and a pathway to citizenship, we can stop the current cycle of immigrant poverty and break the social caste systems that discourage economic and personal growth. Passage of the legislation will also help reduce high school dropout rates, boost college attendance and increas the poll of nurses, teachers, highly qualified recruits for the U.S. armed forces, and other high-need areas of our workforce.

Further, Florida has had a standing tradition of bi-partisan support for immigration reform with Senators Bill Nelson and Mel Martinez helping lead the way with their sponsorship of the DREAM Act. On the House side the legislation enjoys bi-partisan support with eight Florida members currently signed on as co-sponsors.

Kendrick Meek (16 September 2010)

In Arizona, Senator John McCain (R-AZ) is also facing significant pressure. The migrant youth movement in Arizona has been hounding him and converting Republicans wherever he goes. Currently, undocumented youth who would benefit from the DREAM Act are camped outside of his office until he passes the DREAM Act. A few days ago, members of the Arizona DREAM Act Coalition approached his daughter, Meghan McCain, and got her to state her support for the DREAM Act:

So it goes with the rest of the twelve Republican Senators we need to support the DREAM Act as actions happen across the country.

Seven Republicans voted for the DREAM Act in 2007: Bob Bennett (R-UT), Sam Brownback (R-KS), Susan Collins (R-ME), Orrin Hatch (R-UT), Kay Bailey Hutchinson (R-TX), Richard Lugar (R-IN), and Olympia Snowe (R-ME). If they refuse to vote for the exact same bill in 2010 they will expose themselves as the “party of no” that Democrats have accused them of. It is bigger than just the 2010 elections, though. If the Republicans do not vote in favor of getting the DREAM Act passed, now, they will turn off an entire generation of Latino voters.

If the Democrats are playing politics with the DREAM Act, so be it. Moderate Republicans should not let politics get in the way of the lives of millions of migrant youth, or the lives of the voters in the communities that undocumented youth are intertwined with, for that matter. I personally can say that as furious as I’ve been at Democrats for tearing apart our communities with over a thousand deportations a day, they’ve got me focused on Republican votes and the upcoming elections, right now, like I’ve never been before.

If my senator from Massachusetts, Scott Brown (R-MA), votes against the DREAM Act I will work harder than I’ve ever worked on anything like this before to get him replaced with a pro-migrant Senator in 2012. As Latino migrant youth leader Carlos Saavedra said in the New York Times “Our people will remember in November. They will be ready to reward or punish.”

The Stars Have Aligned: The Time Is Now for the DREAM Act

Originally posted at Citizen Orange.

If you haven’t been on facebook, twitter, or following the news, Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-NV) announced yesterday that he would be introducing the DREAM Act as an amendment to the National Defense Authorization Act. Univision anchor Jorge Ramos tweeted last week that Reid wanted to move the DREAM Act before November. Now we know how Reid wants to move it. The DREAM Act could come up for a vote as early as Tuesday of next week.

For those that don’t know, the Development Relief and Education for Alien Minors (DREAM) Act would give the right to exist to almost a million migrant youth who are American in every sense except for the piece of paper that recognizes them as such. Specifically, the DREAM Act would give unauthorized migrant youth who were brought to the U.S. before the age of 16 an opportunity to earn legal status, provided they graduate from high school, are of good moral character (no criminal record), and complete either two years in college or two years in the military. The specifics of the legislation are sound. I can convince almost anyone to I speak with to support the DREAM Act. The only real reasons folks have to oppose the DREAM Act, in actuality, are either ignorance and/or hate.

However, the importance of the DREAM Act goes beyond the specifics of the legislation. For tens of millions, and a good portion of the 70% of Americans who support the DREAM Act, the legislation represents a renewal of the American promise and a positive way forward in what has been decades of a harmful, divisive and stagnant immigration policy debate. I see it as a baby step towards alleviating what I believe is one of the most harmful inequalities that exists on the globe today, the inequality between nations. The DREAM Act will help us move towards a world where people migrate out of want, not out of need. The DREAM Act will help us move towards a world where the piece of the Earth we were born on is no longer the primary guarantor of our God given rights. Don’t take my word for it, hear it from the mouths of DREAMers themselves.

Again, the DREAM Act is being added as an amendment to the National Defense Authorization Act, which for those that don’t know, is a bill that Congress has to pass every year to fund the U.S. Department of Defense. There has long been whispers of trying to pass the DREAM Act as an amendment to the Defense Authorization Act. Frankly, I think it’s our best chance and it makes the most political sense. It minimizes the chances of hostile amendments to the DREAM Act and it spotlights the military provision of the DREAM Act, which appeals particularly to Senate Republican.

There’s also a certain poetic justice to the fact that the Defense Authorization Act already includes “Don’t Ask Don’t Tell language.” I’ve already written about how a disproportionate amount of migrant youth leaders identify as queer. The LGBT movement is inextricable from the migrant youth movement. There would be nothing sweeter than huge victories for both LGBT movement and the migrant youth movement at the end of next week. It would also allow for skittish moderate Senate Republicans and Democrats to swallow what they might perceive to be bitter pills before the elections all at once.

I’m happy to report that the additional political complication of the Congressional Hispanic Caucus holding the DREAM Act hostage to comprehensive immigration reform (CIR) is no longer an issue. Today, Representatives Nydia Velázquez (D-NY), Luis Gutierrez (D-IL), and Senator Robert Menendez (D-NJ) all came out in support of moving the DREAM Act on its own now to put us in a stronger position to pass CIR later, as it should be. I will let Gutierrez tell you what they will be asking of President Obama when they meet with him tomorrow:

We will also ask him to use all his power, to use all of his influence, to use all his might and to use that bully pulpit of the White House … to make sure that the DREAM Act has a successful vote next week

Luis Gutierrez – Roll Call (15 September 2010)

The pro-migrant movement is united as never before and ready to use all it’s pwer to fight for a better tomorrow not only for unauthorized migrant youth, but for all of us.

The only factor that has yet to be decided is how Senate Republicans react. Before I continue, let me say this. People who follow me know that I’m no partisan. Democrats are in charge of all the levers of the government machine that is tearing apart all our communities with over a thousand deportations a day now. As unpopular as it makes me sometimes, I stand behind any politician that stands with migrants. When progressive media assailed John McCain (D-AZ) for being a flip-flopper on the DREAM Act when he was running for President in ’08, I supported him. Of course, I feel like an idiot now that he has flopped back, but would support of him if he flipped again.

Republican leadership has already come out strong against the DREAM Act. Yesterday, Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY) called the the DREAM Act an “extraneous” measure. Today, McCain called the DREAM Act an “onerous” provision. The real question is not whether Republican leadership will support this, though, but how moderate Republicans like Scott Brown (R-MA), Olympia Snowe (R-ME), Susan Collins (R-ME), George Lemeiux (R-FL), and Kay Bailey Hutchinson (R-TX) respond. I honestly have no idea how they will react, but I have a feeling that the narratives the media latches onto will play a huge role.

There are two major media narratives to push back against: one of which is just false, and another of which is only small part of a larger story. First, the media is going to try and portray the DREAM Act as a “controversial” measure which is nowhere near the truth. According to a recent poll, the DREAM Act is supported by 70% of the U.S. public. It has long been one of the most popular immigration measures among Republicans and Democrats like and has always been introduced in a bipartisan fashion in both the House and the Senate. Carly Fiorina, Republican Senate nominee in California, recently came out in support of the DREAM Act as have other Republicans running to be elected this cycle. Don’t take my word for it, read Allahpundit at the popular conservative blog Hotair.com (emphasis mine):

Normally I’d call this self-serving nuttiness since it helps Reid but forces vulnerable Dems to choke on another difficult immigration vote, but the DREAM Act is the most politically palatable ground-preparer for amnesty that the left has. It’s specifically geared at kids and education, so indies won’t grumble too much. In fact, at her debate with Boxer a few weeks ago, Carly Fiorina said she supports it. Frankly, this may be a tougher vote for the GOP in trying to get it stripped out or, possibly, having to vote against the appropriations bill in toto [sic] to stop it.

Here’s anti-amnesty Democrat Mickey Kaus making the thumbnail case against the DREAM Act a few years ago. You know what would be great? If the Republicans controlled the Senate so that we didn’t have to face tough votes like this. Oh well.

Allahpundit – Hotair.com (14 September 2010)

Even members of the nativist Center of Immigration Studies have uttered grudging partial support of the DREAM Act because they know it undercuts every bogeyman argument about immigration that they have. Again, the DREAM Act is not “controversial.”

The second argument the media is going to make is that this is a political move by Harry Reid to shore up the Latino vote in preparation for his extremely competitive election against Republican Sharron Angle. That’s only part of the story. Reid would not be moving the DREAM Act on its own if it weren’t for the courageous actions of the folks at thedreamiscoming.com. Their sit-in in his office is what turned the tide for the DREAM Act. Before that he only was only willing to push the DREAM Act as part of CIR.

Ultimately, this story is bigger than Reid. I’ll quote Reid on this:

I don’t think we should talk about how beneficial the DREAM Act is for Democrats. We should talk about how fair it is to people who should be able to go to school if they want to or join the military if they want to. That has nothing to do with Democrats or Republicans.

Harry Reid – Las Vegas Review Journal (14 September 2010)

Look out for those two narratives in the media and push back at them as best as you can through the comments, emailing reports, facebook, twitter, you name it. The more those narratives take hold the harder it is going to be for moderate Republicans to do the right thing.

More important than all of that, though, move your Senators to vote for the DREAM Act! Any and all pressure to get the votes we need is appreciated. Emails, faxes, calls, office visits, actions, you name it. I’ll write more on that shortly, but in the meantime, I’ll send you to this dreamactivist.org page that tells you who to call.

DREAM Now Letters to Barack Obama: Saad Nabeel

Originally posted on Citizen Orange.

The “DREAM Now Series: Letters to Barack Obama” is a social media campaign that launched Monday, July 19, to underscore the urgent need to pass the DREAM Act. The Development, Relief, and Education for Alien Minors (DREAM) Act, S. 729, would help tens of thousands of young people, American in all but paperwork, to earn legal status, provided they graduate from U.S. high schools, have good moral character, and complete either two years of college or military service. With broader comprehensive immigration reform stuck in partisan gridlock, the time is now for the White House and Congress to step up and pass the DREAM Act!

Dear Mr. President,

My name is Saad Nabeel and I am writing to you from Bangladesh. Prior to my arrival in this nation, I lived in the United States for 15 years. My parents brought me to America at age three. It is the only home I know. I used to attend the University of Texas at Arlington with a full scholarship in Electrical Engineering. Through no fault of my own I was forced to leave my home, friends, possessions, and most importantly, my education behind.

November 3rd 2009 is a day I will never forget. My mother called me and told me that my father had been detained by ICE and that we needed to leave immediately to Canada to seek refugee status. Being an only child, I had to take care of my mother and go with her.
My mother and I were denied entrance into Canada and sent back to the USA as if we were common criminals. I was separated from my mother and sent to a detention facility where I was forced to live with 60 men, many of whom were hardened criminals. There was no privacy and I was forced to use the facilities and showers while fully exposed. I lived in constant fear of being abused. I was without food for upwards of 14 hours a day and received little to no medical attention. When I asked for legal counsel I was threatened with criminal charges and jail time in a Federal Penitentiary. To this day I still have nightmares about being detained. Everything my parents taught me about human decency was replaced with humiliation. Mr. President I hope you are as outraged as I am hurt by this ordeal.

Bangladesh is extremely hot and humid. We have no air conditioning as the power goes out every day. These power outages can last twelve hours or more. The air is heavily polluted and I get food poisoning every week from the poor quality of food here. Raw sewage flows in open drains in front of our apartment. I see people outside with mangled bodies dying on the street because of the heat and starvation. I see mothers practically giving their children away because they are unable to feed them.

I do not know the language and I fear going outside because I am different from everyone else. Speaking in English is an easy way to be targeted here. We cannot afford to live in a safer area. I have not left the apartment for 8 months. It simply is too dangerous for me to leave the apartment unless my parents go with me. I cannot attend school due to the language barrier. I do not know anyone in Bangladesh.

On top of all this, my parents are both ill and have been for months. My father suffers severe asthma attacks that make him bedridden on most days. My mother has post traumatic stress and cannot accept the fact that she is not at our home in Texas.

These events transpired after we were approved to receive our Green Cards. ICE forced my family to leave knowing that Green Cards were available to us. We have been waiting for our Green Cards for 15 years now.

Mr. President, you are the most powerful man in the world, all I ask from you is to bring me home. All I ever wanted was an education so I could become an engineer. I just want to go home and go back to college. Please don’t keep me exiled any longer. Please bring me home.

Sincerely,
Saad Nabeel

The “DREAM Now” letter series is inspired by a similar campaign started by the Servicemembers Legal Defense Network for the repeal of Don’t Ask Don’t Tell. The letters are produced by Kyle de Beausset at Citizen Orange with the assistance of America’s Voice. Every Monday and Wednesday DREAM-eligible youth will publish letters to the President, and each Friday there will be a DREAM Now recap.

Approximately 65,000 undocumented youth graduate from U.S. high schools every year, who could benefit from passage of the DREAM Act. Many undocumented youth are brought to the United States before they can even remember much else, and some don’t even realize their undocumented status until they have to get a driver’s license, want to join the military, or apply to college. DREAM Act youth are American in every sense of the word — except on paper. It’s been nearly a decade since the DREAM Act was first introduced. If Congress does not act now, another generation of promising young graduates will be relegated to the shadows and blocked from giving back fully to our great nation.

This is what you can do right now to pass the DREAM Act:

Sign the DREAM Act Petition
Join the DREAM Act Facebook Cause
Send a fax in support of the DREAM Act
Call your Senator and ask them to pass the DREAM Act now.
Email kyle at citizenorange dot com to get more involved

Below is a list of previous entries in the DREAM Now Series:

Mohammad Abdollahi (19 July 2010)
Yahaira Carrillo (21 July 2010)
Weekly Recap – Tell Harry Reid You Want the DREAM Act Now (23 July 2010)
Wendy (26 July 2010)
Matias Ramos (28 July 2010)
Weekly Recap – The CHC Has To Stand With Migrant Youth Not Against Us (30 July 2010)
Tania Unzueta (2 August 2010)
Marlen Moreno (4 August 2010)
Weekly Recap – The Ghost of Virgil Goode Possesses the Republican Party (9 August 2010)
David Cho (9 August 2010)
Ivan Nikolov (11 August 2010)
Yves Gomes (16 August 2010)
Selvin Arevalo (18 August 2010)
Weekly Recap – Latino, LGBT, Migrant Youth, and Progressive Bloggers Lead For the DREAM Act (20 August 2010)
Carlos A. Roa, Jr. (23 August 2010)
Myrna Orozco (25 August 2010)
Lizbeth Mateo (30 August 2010)

DREAM Now Letters to Barack Obama: Lizbeth Mateo

Originally posted on Citizen Orange.

Dear Mr. President,

My name is Lizbeth Mateo and I am undocumented. On May 17th, on the 56th anniversary of Brown v. Board of Education, I, along with Mohammad Abdollahi, Yahaira Carrillo and two others, became the first undocumented students to risk deportation by staging a sit-in inside Senator McCain’s office in Tucson, Arizona, to demand the immediate passage of the DREAM Act. As a result of that sit-in we were arrested, turned over to ICE, and we now face deportation
I came to this country when I was fourteen-years-old from Oaxaca, Mexico. It was the late nineties and Mexico was, and is still, facing one of the worst socio-economic and political periods in recent history. For my parents – a taxi driver and a stay-at-home-mom that were struggling to make ends meet- it was clear that they would have to choose between seeing their children starve and get sick, or risk it all, leave everything behind and relocate the family to Southern California with hopes of a better future. In 1998 we moved to Los Angeles and have lived here, since.

Their choice and sacrifice paid-off. I didn’t only become the first one in my family to graduate from high school, but a couple of years ago I became the first one in my family to graduate from college. I graduated from California State University, Northridge and I am currently in the process of applying to law school. My dream is to become an attorney and defend the most vulnerable in the courts of law.

Life as an undocumented student has not been easy, it’s been filled with tough choices and a lot of uncertainty. At one point I felt like the only way to fulfill my dream of higher education was to leave my family behind and go back to Mexico. But California had become my home and so I chose to stay despite the uncertain future ahead. Against all odds I enrolled in college, and it was there that I first learned about the DREAM Act. From the moment I heard about this piece of legislation I decided to work hard and advocate for its passage. It’s now been seven years since that day and the DREAM Act has yet to become a reality.

Despite overwhelming support, Congress has been unwilling to pass the DREAM Act. It is because of that inaction that earlier this year I had to decide whether committing civil disobedience would be worth the risk of being forcibly separated from my family, and deported to a place I no longer consider home. I made a choice, forced in part by the lack of courage from our leaders in Congress and inspired by your call to change, the “change [that] will not come if we wait for some other person or some other time.” Just as I had chosen to work on your campaign inspired by what you said, that “we are the ones we’ve been waiting for. We are the change that we seek,” I also chose to face my fears, to risk it all, to seek that change, and sit-in so that the DREAM Act could stand alone.

Some say that destiny is not a matter of chances but one of choices. My life and that of my fellow Dreamers has been filled with tough choices, some made by us and some made by others on our behalf. Two months after five of us chose to risk it all for our futures, because we knew that without the DREAM Act we had no future, twenty-one others chose to risk it all for a dream that belongs to us as much as it belongs to our families, our communities, and our home – the United States of America.

I firmly believe that we have made the right choice – to stand up for what we believe in and to try to fulfill the promise of the great American Dream that brought us here in the first place. I firmly believe that we, the undocumented youth, are standing on the right side of history. Now I ask that you stand with us by making the right choice. Help us pass the DREAM Act immediately. Help us free our DREAMs, which have for too long been held hostage to political rhetoric and insensitive choices by a few that have yet to recognize the potential that we have as young, educated people.

Mr. President, staying strong and facing my challenges with courage and dignity while I wait patiently is no longer an option, it’s no longer a choice I can make because I played the last card I had, and my time is running out. I put my life on the line in order to have a chance at a future out of the shadows. Now the DREAM Act is the only chance I have to stay home. Please help us pass the DREAM Act so that no more youth have to risk it all by putting their lives on the line.

Sincerely,
Lizbeth Mateo

Sign the DREAM Act Petition
Join the DREAM Act Facebook Cause
Send a fax in support of the DREAM Act
Call your Senator and ask them to pass the DREAM Act now.
Email kyle at citizenorange dot com to get more involved

Below is a list of previous entries in the DREAM Now Series:

DREAM Now Letters to Barack Obama: Carlos A Roa, Jr.

Originally posted on Citizen Orange.

Dear Mr. President,

My name is Carlos and I’m a 23 year old undocumented immigrant from Caracas, Venezuela. I want to legalize my immigration status in this country through the passage of DREAM Act this year. For too long have I lived in the U.S. without papers. It has been over 20 years, now. I want to legalize my immigration status in order to fulfill my dreams of becoming a young professional in architecture.
There are obstacles in my daily life that make it extraordinarily difficult to pursue a career in architecture. Fortunately, because of my determination to continue my studies after graduating high school in 2005, I’m currently a student in Miami Dade College. It has not been without great difficulty. For many years it felt as if all the potential I developed in high school was for nothing.

I am the perfect example of other students in similar situations whose voices have been silenced by the fact that we are not truly accounted for. We are afraid of speaking up because doing so might affect our immigration status in this country and possibly even lead to deportation. I myself felt this way for several years, but after dealing with my status for so long, I now consider it a duty to speak up for myself and for other youth in my shoes.

I remember that dark and cold feeling of shame, fear and hopelessness.

After the death of my mother–the person I was closest to in my life–I’d constantly ask myself what is to come of me? Where is my life going? If it wasn’t for her strength and desire to see me succeed, I would not have devoted myself to this cause in her memory. If it wasn’t for her love–her incredible affection transcending my existence–I would not have been able to conquer the fear of being undocumented. My love of humanity has manifested itself through the fight for immigrant rights.

That’s why I was one of four undocumented youth that participated on a 1500 mile walk from Miami, FL to Washington D.C. known as the Trail of Dreams.

I encourage you to present this letter U.S. Congress, Mr. President, so that the voice of one undocumented immigrant echoes the voice of millions. I hope that the Congressional Hispanic Caucus can have the vision to push for the DREAM Act this year. It would be be a dream for so many families, fathers and mothers just like mine, to see their children on the path towards legalization and professional degrees.

I consider it a colossal loss for society that young Americans, such as myself, find it extremely difficult to continue our studies after high school graduation. We are unable to work legally, unable to join the Armed Forces, unable to legally obtain a driving license, and unable to apply or receive most scholarships. Economically supporting our families under these circumstances is impossible.

Our legalization would greatly contribute to our communities and make this country a better place. As young professionals we would open businesses, create jobs, pay taxes, and play a much stronger role rehabilitating the economy, just like any other hardworking U.S. citizen.

Please give us the opportunity to contribute to the only country we know as our home, Mr. President. Please step up and help us pass the DREAM Act, this year.

Sincerely,
Carlos A. Roa, Jr.

Sign the DREAM Act Petition
Join the DREAM Act Facebook Cause
Send a fax in support of the DREAM Act
Call your Senator and ask them to pass the DREAM Act now.
Email kyle at citizenorange dot com to get more involved

Below is a list of previous entries in the DREAM Now Series:

DREAM Now Letters to Barack Obama: Selvin Arevalo

Originally posted on Citizen Orange.

[Note from Kyle de Beausset: Selvin wrote this letter right before he got into a minor car accident on April 9, 2010. He was set to get his high school diploma in June but has been in detention ever since. I have chosen reproduce Selvin’s letter as I found it in his empty room, rather than polish his slight grammatical errors, to allow his character to shine through.]

Dear President Barack Obama,

From the bottom of my heart, I plead to my God that you and your entire family receive blessings from the highest God while you are reading this letter. I admire and thank you for the great labor that you are fulfilling as a president in this big nation. My name is Selvin Ovidio Arevalo. I came to this country when I was 15 years old. I came from Guatemala to this country to fulfill my dreams because I always have believed that this is a country of many opportunities for those whom want to succeed.
Since I came to this country, I have been going to school to learn and enhance my English. Three years ago, I enrolled with Adult Education in Portland, ME, for my high school diploma. Finally, in this June 2010, I shall have my high school diploma. I am already enrolled in college transition. I wish that at the end of this yar, I can go to college, but what concern me about is getting financial aid. I cannot qualify for any financial aid because I am not legal in this country. The reason that I write you is to plead you for a solution to my problem. I have been a Christian since I was a kid. For eight years, I have been praying to my God to touch the heart of the leaders of this country to provide me legalization. I think that I have three important reasons for why I want to be legal in this country. First reason: I want to go to college and have a degree of computer science and more. Second: I am one of the leaders of a Christian church in Portland, Maine. I am the treasurer of the church, a musician; I play instruments in the chorus of my church, and a youth leader. Third: I have not seen my family (parents, sisters, and brother) for eight years. I have shed tears for them, but I am waiting until a legalization to go to see them.

I appreciate and thank you for spending your time reading this letter. Once again, I plead you for a solution to my problem. My faith is great; I believe that one day I am going to be legal in this country. Then my dreams will become true. Once again, thank you for your good will and I hope you have a wonderful time. May the peace of God be with you forever and ever!

Sincerely,
Selvin Arevalo Ovidio

How you can help Selvin:

Right now, the focus should still be on stopping the deportation of Ivan Nikolov, but if you would like to stay up to date on Selvin’s case you can:

“Like” his Facebook page
Join the Facebook group “We Are Selvin“
Follow Citizen Orange for more updates

Sign the DREAM Act Petition
Join the DREAM Act Facebook Cause
Send a fax in support of the DREAM Act
Call your Senator and ask them to pass the DREAM Act now.
Email kyle at citizenorange dot com to get more involved

Below is a list of previous entries in the DREAM Now Series:

DREAM Now Letters to Barack Obama: Stop Ivan Nikolov’s Deportation

Dear Mr. President,

In May, my mother and I were picked up in an immigration raid in our home. I was told that in 2002, when I was just 12, I missed a court date at which I was ordered removed from this country. I’ve been in detention for three months, now, awaiting my deportation. My mother was deported on Friday, August 6th, and I’m set to be deported any day now.
I immigrated to the United States from Russia when I was just 11 years old. My mother married a U.S. citizen who is the only father I know. I do not remember much about the journey to America, nor did I even know I was undocumented until I was 15 and asked my parents about getting a driver’s permit. This is the only country I know as my home and I don’t know what I would do if I were deported, now.

I am a long-time resident of Michigan. I have a fiancée who has been with me for over three years. It would be a great loss to her and to my community if I were deported.

In Russia, it would be difficult for me to survive. I barely speak the language and I have very little family there. I dream of studying film or music. I love my pets and my many friends in the U.S. I want to be able to see them again. Please take action now to stop my deportation.

Sincerely,
Ivan Nikolov

Please do the following to help Ivan:

Sign this petition to DHS
Send a fax to DHS
Call Janet Napolitano, Director of the Department of Homeland Security (202-282-8495)
Call John Morton, Director of Immigration and Customs Enforcement (202-732-3000)
Call Sen. Carl Levin (D-MI) and ask him to lead on getting the DREAM Act passed this year (202-224-6221)
Call Sen. Debbie Stabenow (D-MI) and ask her to co-sponsor the DREAM Act (202-224-4822)

When calling ICE please be very polite and say something like this:

I am calling to leave a message of support for Ivan (A#078-251-095) who is going to be deported any day now. I ask that Director Morton please step in to defer his deportation, he is an asset to this country. Thank you.

Sign the DREAM Act Petition
Join the DREAM Act Facebook Cause
Send a fax in support of the DREAM Act
Call your Senator and ask them to pass the DREAM Act now.
Email kyle at citizenorange dot com to get more involved

Below is a list of previous entries in the DREAM Now Series:

DREAM Now Letters to Barack Obama: David Cho

Originally posted on Citizen Orange.

Dear Mr. President,

My name is David Cho and I’m undocumented.

I will be a senior studying International Economics and Korean at UCLA this upcoming Fall. While most of my friends will enter the workplace after graduation, I will not be able to even put my name down on a job application because of my status. I’m a hardworking student with a 3.6 GPA and I am the first Korean and actually the first undocumented student to ever become the conductor, the drum major of the UCLA Marching Band in UCLA history.
My parents brought me to this country when I was only nine years old. I went to school not knowing a single word of English, and I often became my classmates’ object of ridicule – many bullies perpetually and ignorantly harassed me. My reaction to this harassment was to study harder, for I was determined to overcome my obstacles and excel in everything that I did. I studied hard and graduated from my high school with a 3.9 GPA.

It was not until my freshman year of college when I found out about my immigration status. I asked my parents for my social security number when filling out my application for UCLA. There was a long pause. That day, I found out that, after eight years of going through the process, our family visa had expired because our sponsor had mismanaged our paperwork.

Unable to receive any state or federal financial aid due to my status, I work 20 hours a week tutoring high school students while maintaining a high GPA and leading the UCLA Marching Band as their Drum Major.

Mr. President, I feel like I’m living inside an invisible prison cell; these invisible bars block me from doing things, while my U.S. citizen friends can glide right through. I want to serve in the Air Force after graduation. I want to attend Harvard Kennedy School of Government, and I ultimately dream of becoming a U.S. Senator because I want to serve and change this country for the better. This is the American dream I want to achieve, but I am unable to fulfill it because of my status.

I have come out publicly on CNN and on C-SPAN. I’m taking a huge risk in doing so (because I could be deported) but I believe it is a greater risk to be silent in the face of oppression and injustice. This country is throwing away talents every minute, every second. You and I clearly know that our immigration system is broken, but the DREAM Act can bring thousands of students out of the shadows and allow them the opportunity to work for the country that they truly love, right now. It is more critical now, than ever.

I know you have shown your support for the DREAM Act, but I sincerely ask that you take some real action to make sure Congress passes it this year.

Sincerely,
David Cho

Sign the DREAM Act Petition
Join the DREAM Act Facebook Cause
Send a fax in support of the DREAM Act
Call your Senator and ask them to pass the DREAM Act now.
Email kyle at citizenorange dot com to get more involved

Below is a list of previous entries in the DREAM Now Series:

DREAM Now Recap: The Ghost of Virgil Goode Possesses the Republican Party

Originally posted on Citizen Orange.

A lot has happened as we complete the third week of the DREAM Now Series. The DREAM Act picked up two new co-sponsors in the U.S. House: Mike Thompson (D-CA-1) and Chellie Pingree (D-ME-1). Two extremely important and influential organizations have also come out strongly in support of passing the DREAM Act as a downpayment on comprehensive immigration reform: the Center for American Progress and the AFL-CIO. Finally, a major victory was won in Arizona where the deportation of Marlen Moreno was deferred. Please express support for the above in anyway possible. It has all helped build a lot of momentum for passing the DREAM Act, this year.

Just was we have been busy moving the DREAM Act forward, though, nativists have been busy undermining it.

Last week, U.S. Senator Chuck Grassley (R-IA) and the nativist organization NumbersUSA were behind a political effort to release an inflammatory memo from U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services. The memo was released with the suggestion that Obama was preparing a stealth amnesty without the aid of Congress. An explicit target of this memo was most certainly possible beneficiaries of the DREAM Act, whom advocates and even U.S. Senators have been passionately arguing should receive some sort of administrative relief from Obama.

It is an absolute lie, of course, to suggest that Obama is in favor of providing mass administrative relief to migrants. Obama specifically argued against doing so in his only major immigration policy speech as President, and has ramped up enforcement even more than the Bush administration ever did.

As if the political and misleading release of the USCIS memo wasn’t enough, Republican leadership has sunk to an even newer low with the suggestion that the 14th Amendment of the U.S. Constitution should be revisited to prevent the children of migrants, or “anchor babies” as dehumanizing nativists like the call them, from gaining U.S. citizenship through their birth on U.S. soil. Led by U.S. Senator Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.), Republican Senate Leaders such as Mitch McConnell (R-KY), John Cornyn (R-TX), and John McCain (R-AZ), have all come out in support of “hearings” on the manner.

This isn’t the first time nativists have proposed altering or reinterpreting the 14th Amendment of the U.S. Constitution. In one of my better posts written for Citizen Orange a couple of years back, I addressed this very issue when former Republican Congressman Virgil Goode tried to raise this issue in his race against current Congressman Tom Periello (D-VA-5). Here’s what I wrote then:

Nativists try to make [bestowing citizenship on the children of migrants] seem like an abomination, but challenging this is an affront to the very concept of U.S. citizenship. To oppose it, is the difference between the philosophical concepts of “jus soli” and “jus sanguinis“, or the “the right of soil” vs. “the right of blood”.

Virgil Goode is essentially arguing for “the right of blood” an antiquated concept whereby nationality is not determined by place of birth, but by ancestry. It’s the equivalent of a feudal philosophy whereby your privileges are passed onto you by your parents. Not only does it undercut a central tenet of U.S. citizenship, but it also undercuts the idea that everyone should be born equal.

I go into this explanation, because I don’t think people realize what a radical affront to the United States people like Virgil Goode are. These are not people on the lunatic fringe. H.R. 1940 or the “Birthright Citizenship Act of 2007” claims 104 co-sponsors in the House of Representatives (that’s out of 435 for those that are counting). This act would strip the children of migrants from their right to citizenship.

Congressman like Virgil Goode like to claim that they are for enforcing the laws that are on the books. In reality they are in favor of a radical reordering of judicial philosophy of the United States as we know it. This nativist movement, led by members of the House Immigration Reform Caucus, is on par, perhaps even surpassing, the Know Nothing movement of mid 19th-century. People don’t see the extent to which this movement has polluted the U.S. government because these politicians still have D’s or R’s next to their names. If decent people don’t rise-up against this movement, the United States will be gone as we know it.

What is most disgraceful about congresmman like Virgil Goode is that when they rail against anchor babies, they are dehumanizing the very people that they were elected to represent. Even if they succeed in the radical reordoring of the concept of U.S. citizenship and the U.S. constitution, they cannot very well retroactively deny citizenship to the “anchor babies” that were already born in the U.S. Like it or not they are here to stay. Like it or not, Congressman Goode is elected to represent those “anchor babies”.
Kyle de Beausset – Citizen Orange (5 September 2008)

I encourage you to watch the video of Virgil Goode to see white nativist hatred in action at the highest levels of U.S. government. While I described in my post, then, just how many members of the U.S. House were in favor of this radical reordering of the principles of the United States, I never expected the ghost of Virgil Goode to rise again in the souls of politicians like Lindsey Graham and John McCain. These are the Republican leaders in the U.S. Senate that are supposed to be pro-migrant.

These nativist attacks are obviously political, meant to appeal to the base of the Republican Party. They are also a direct attack on DREAM Act beneficiaries. Republicans are masters of the Overton Window. If nativists are opposed to giving U.S. citizenship to migrant babies born in the U.S., it makes it even harder to argue for citizenship for unauthorized migrant youth that have been in this country almost just as long as babies. I’ve defended pro-migrant Republicans against Democrat operatives in the past, but it’s hard to defend anyone when nativism has so permeated Congress.

Those of us organizing for the DREAM Act are trying to do something positive in the face of all this hate, and I’m thankful to everyone who has linked to or is currently posting the DREAM Now Letters. I will now leave you with a list of DREAM Now supporters:

DREAM Letters Publishers:
Docudharma
Latina Lista
Latino Politics Blog
Life By Dream
Pam’s House Blend

DREAM Letters Mentions:
B-Listed
Blue Mass. Group
Crooks and Liars
Michigan Liberal
Michigan Messenger
Servicemembers Legal Defense Network
Tha Kite

Sign the DREAM Act Petition
Join the DREAM Act Facebook Cause
Send a fax in support of the DREAM Act
Call your Senator and ask them to pass the DREAM Act now.
Email kyle at citizenorange dot com to get more involved

Below is a list of previous entries in the DREAM Now Series: