America's Voice Blog

Posted 09/17/10 at 02:13pm By Web Team

Last DREAM Now Letter to Barack Obama: Laura López

This will be the last DREAM Now Letter to Barack Obama because,  as you probably have seen, he came out strongly for the DREAM Act this week, saying:

“And the Senate's going to have a chance to do the right thing over the next few weeks when Senator Reid brings the DREAM Act to the floor.  In the past, this was a bill that was supported by a majority of Democrats and Republicans.  There's no reason it shouldn't be again.  I've been a supporter since I was in the Senate, and I will do whatever it takes to support the Congressional Hispanic Caucus' efforts to pass this bill so that I can sign it into law on behalf of students seeking a college education and those who wish to serve in our country's uniform.”

---Jackie

 
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, and ended on Wednesday, September 15, with the full support of Barack Obama.

Dear Mr. President,

My name is Laura López and I am an undocumented resident of Napa, California. My parents brought me in 1989 to provide for me the American Dream. I was a year and eight months old. The plan was that they'd work and I'd study and go to college. Our hard work was supposed to merit us the American Dream. But my merit would be questioned for a lack of legal documentation.

In 7th grade I joined Talent Search, a community college program promoting higher education. With them I planned my high school classes based on the track towards the University of California. I worked hard through the honors courses and passed the Advanced Placements tests. I completed community service hours with the honor society and competed with the dance team in San Diego, Reno, and Disney World. I did it all to get to college. As a senior in high school I learned of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, Article 26: "Higher education shall be equally accessible to all on the basis of merit". I believed it then, and I believe it now.

I merited the acceptance letters and chose Santa Cruz. But my high school counselor and Talent Search mentor did not mention that if you are undocumented, you must file the Assembly Bill 540 Non-resident Tuition Exemption Form or pay out-of-state tuition. Perhaps it didn't cross their minds that I could be undocumented and that AB540 was a determinant factor in my American Dream. Although I had lived in the same town for all but a year of my life I could be considered a non-resident student if weren't for that bill. If it weren't for late Assemblyperson Marco Firebaugh bill, I could not have afforded college; I would not have graduated from the University of California, Santa Cruz, with a B.A. in Latin American and Latino Studies, Cum Laude, and a minor in Legal Studies. But, you may be asking Mr. President, what of life after college as an undocumented graduate with honors? Without a pathway to legalization, no merit of mine seems to matter. I have a great degree with which I could help the ever growing Latino population (citizens, permanent residents, and undocumented folks), but I cannot use it. I cannot get a job. Don't get me wrong, I love volunteering because it is necessary, but I need a job.

Click here to read more.
Posted 09/13/10 at 01:13pm By Jackie Mahendra

DREAM Now Letters to Barack Obama: Gaby Pacheco

 Gaby was brought to this country from Ecuador at age 7. A born leader, Gaby has served as president of the student government as well as for the statewide Junior Community College Student Government Association. In her high school, Gaby was the highest ranked Junior ROTC student and scored highest on the military’s vocational aptitude test. The Air Force tried to recruit her, but her status prevented her from serving. She is a founder of Students Working for Equal Rights (SWER), an organization advocating on behalf of undocumented youth.  Read Gaby’s story in her own words below, in a letter she wrote to President Obama.

Editor’s note:  With Congress coming back into session for a few short weeks, it’s crunch time for the DREAM Act! Help us tell Congress that these young people who were brought to the U.S. as children deserve a chance to give back to the U.S. – their home – through their hard work, service, and dedication!

Tell Congress: it’s time to pass the DREAM Act.

--- Jackie

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. 

Dear Mr. President,

I am a member of the first graduating class of Felix Varela Senior High which is located in Miami, Florida. I had attended school with my native-born friends. Like them, I participated in activities, field trips, dances, and felt the pain of losing a classmate.

It was around 10th grade that I realized my future after high school would not be the same as those of my peers even though I worked just as hard to obtain excellent grades. I understood that I was different.  For over ten years I had been in hiding. For days I thought about coming out of the closet. I wanted to tell the whole world who I really was. I thought, "How would this affect the relationships with my friends?" "How would I be judged?" "How will my parents be affected?" I thought about it day and night, hoping that someone would help and wondering about the others, like me, out there.

Click here to read more.
Posted 09/08/10 at 01:37pm By Guest Blogger

DREAM Now Letters to Barack Obama: Chih Tsung Kao

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.

Dear President Obama,

My name is Chih Tsung Kao.  I am 24 years old and am now currently living in Taipei, Taiwan awaiting military service.  This is not what I had planned for my life as I entered high school, but it was drastically altered when I found out that I was undocumented at 17.

I arrived in the US on a visitor's visa when I was about 4 years old.  My mother had obtained a student visa for me shortly afterwards and moved me to Boulder, Co to live with my grandparents.  By the age of 13 my grandparents decided they wanted to retire and move to California.  Being raised in Boulder, the only city I've ever known, I decided I wanted to stay and found a friend's parents who would take me in.

Click here to read more.
Posted 09/08/10 at 09:50am By Guest Blogger

DREAM Now Letters to Barack Obama: Matias Ramos

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.:

Dear Mr. President:

I greet you with respect and admiration, but also with a complaint and a request.

In April 2010 I packed my clothes in two bags and left my family and friends in California to work full time for the DREAM Act, a bill that you know well, and for which I have waited for many years. At that time I had nowhere to live but a friend lent me his chair for several months until I could rent a room. Washington is very different from Los Angeles in the culture and lifestyle. The adjustment was difficult, but received the support of many people across the country, who share the same dream: to become citizens of the United States.

Read the original (in Spanish) at America’s Voice Español.

Posted 09/02/10 at 10:52am By Guest Blogger

DREAM Now Letters to Barack Obama: Saad Nabeel

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.

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.

Click here to read more.
Posted 08/30/10 at 10:22am By Guest Blogger

DREAM Now Letters to Barack Obama: Lizbeth Mateo

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.

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. 

Click here to read more.
Posted 08/26/10 at 03:06pm By Guest Blogger

DREAM Now Letters to Barack Obama: Myrna Orozco

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.

Dear Mr. President,

On July 20th, 2010 I was arrested in the office of Senator John McCain fighting for the DREAM Act.

I am one of the thousands of students who would qualify for this legislation. I was brought to the United States at the age of four and have been here ever since. I consider myself to be a good student and I always strive to be a good example for others. I have been waiting for the DREAM Act to pass since it was first introduced in 2001, and this year I decided that I couldn't stand by and wait another year. I decided to fight for my DREAMs.

I can no longer watch as politicians gamble with my future and the futures of my friends, family, and even strangers who are in the same position as I am. This is why I, along with 20 other DREAMers decided to take action and fight for what we believe is right; thus, we decided to conduct sit-ins at various senators offices and urge them to take action on the DREAM Act. We can not stand by as another class of outstanding students graduate without being able to fulfill their DREAMs.

Click here to read more.
Posted 08/24/10 at 01:25pm By Guest Blogger

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

 

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.

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.

Click here to read more.
Posted 08/18/10 at 11:33am By Guest Blogger

DREAM Now Letters to Barack Obama: Selvin Arevalo

Editor’s Note: Today, syndicated columnist Ruben Navarette argues rather pointedly for an end to any politicking that might hold up the DREAM Act:

And there’s the best argument for passing the DREAM Act --  so that deserving young people get the chance to realize their full potential. With so much of politics driven by the self-interest of politicians, we’re fresh out of leaders in this country. So we had better start growing a new crop.

---Jackie

[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.]

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.

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.

Click here to read more.
Posted 08/16/10 at 04:49pm By Jackie Mahendra

DREAM Now Letters to Barack Obama: Yves Gomes

Editor's Note: This afternoon, Janet Murguía, President one of the nation’s top Latino advocacy groups, NCLR, chimed in on the DREAM Act in the Huffington Post:

The rationale for the “DREAM Act” is clear and compelling. Congress needs to put its weight behind this proposal for what it is: a measure geared toward young people to promote future economic prosperity. Those who have not yet co-sponsored this legislation should explain why they are standing in the way of progress. And when it comes to immigration, they should keep in mind that Latino voters will take stock of who is just trying to score points with political ads and who is actually delivering the comprehensive solutions our country needs.

---Jackie

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.

Dear President Obama:

My name is Yves Gomes. I am 17 years old and I just graduated from Paint Branch High School in Burtonsville, MD this June. Under the grace of God I was able to do well in my studies all my life and I graduated in the top 5% of my class and got into University of Maryland College Park and a handful of other colleges. However until today I had an order for deportation from this country on August 13, 2010, a few days from now.  I spent the last year restlessly awaiting my unknown future. But today, thanks to the work of my lawyer, Mrs. Cynthia Groomes Katz, the help of the media (e.g. Ms. Andrea McCarren of WUSA9 TV) Organizations such as the We Are America project of the Center for Community Change and my family and friends, I was able to get Deferred Action after subsequent to Stays of Removal, and now I am ecstatic because I can stay in the United States.

Click here to read more.

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