America's Voice Blog

Posted 08/11/10 at 11:15am By Jackie Mahendra

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

Editor’s Note: One of the nation’s most influential Spanish language publications, La Opinión (Los Angeles), published an editorial this week called, “The DREAM Act can’t wait” (“DREAM Act no puede esperar,”) calling on Congress to pass the DREAM Act without further delay. This is especially timely, given news today that the Spanish language media is growing disenchanted with President Obama and that Latino voters now rank immigration as their top issue heading into the November elections.

Finally, send a fax now to stop today’s DREAMer, Ivan, from being deported to Russia. We made a huge difference for Marlen, now it’s Ivan’s turn.

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,

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.

Click here to read more.
Posted 08/09/10 at 10:23am By Guest Blogger

DREAM Now Letters: David Cho

Originally posted on Citizen Orange.

David Cho is a Military Dreamer who wants to join the U.S. Air Force. His story has also been covered in the Wall Street Journal. Read his story in his own words below.

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 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.

Click here to read more.
Posted 08/06/10 at 11:51am By Guest Blogger

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

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!

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.

Click here to read more.
Posted 08/04/10 at 11:20am By Jackie Mahendra

DREAM Now Letters: Marlen Moreno

Editor's note: Marlen faces deportation this Saturday, and DREAM activists around the country are asking people to call DHS Secretary Janet Napolitano and ask her to stop Marlen's deportation. If you wish to join them after reading Marlen's story, call 202.282.8495 and say:

"I am calling to leave a message of support for Marlen Moreno, who is being deported on August 8th. I ask that Secretary Napolitano please step in to defer her deportation, as she is an asset to this country.  Thank you."

DREAM Now Letters: Marlen Moreno



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 Marlen Moreno and I am undocumented. I am also a possible beneficiary of the DREAM Act.  On Sunday, August 8, I will be deported.

I was born in Nacozari, Mexico in 1984. My parents brought me to the United States when I was only 13 years old. We were searching for a better life and we found it in Tucson, Arizona. Despite being born in Mexico, I don’t consider myself Mexican. I have been living in this country for over thirteen years. The United States is my country and Arizona is my home.

My parents have always told me to value education. I remember them telling me that they came to the United States, “the country of opportunity,” so I could live a better life than they did. I never took their sacrifice for granted. In 2002, I became the first and only member of my family to graduate from high school. I was proud of my achievements but scared that I could not go any further. Because of my status, I was not able to continue with my education. My goal is to become a pre-school teacher, because I believe education is the key to success. I want to help children achieve their full potential from a young age, so they can continue to excel in every aspect of their lives.

Despite my goals of higher education, I was forced to put them aside and work as an assistant cleaning houses and a maid in a hotel. This was not what I wanted to do with my life, but I was thankful for any job I was able to get. For four years, I worked hard to support myself and help my family financially knowing that someday I would be able to live out the American Dream.

In 2007, my first son was born, Freddy Alan. Thanks to him, I came to know what it means to be a mother. I never knew I could be this happy or love someone as much as I love him. I went back to work soon after his birth because I wanted to provide him with everything he deserved.

Click here to read more.
Posted 08/02/10 at 02:41pm By Guest Blogger

DREAM Now Letters: Tania Unzueta

Cross-Posted at 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!

President Barack H. Obama
The White House
1600 Pennsylvania Avenue Northwest
Washington, DC  20500

Dear Mr. President,

My name is Tania Unzueta and I'm undocumented.

I have lived in Chicago since I was 10 years old. I came with my mother to join my father, who had found a stable job and a promise to legalize his status. Eventually our tourist visas ran out, and my family became undocumented.

For years we lived in a small basement, then a small apartment. When we moved here, my dad had been offered a job with the promise of regularizing his status through employer sponsorship, 245-i. Our family was going through that process when the workers began to organize a union, and asked for the support of my dad. He gave it to them, which resulted in his dismissal from his position, and an end to the sponsorship.

Click here to read more.
Posted 07/26/10 at 05:52pm By Guest Blogger

DREAM Now Letters: Wendy

Cross-Posted at 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!

President Barack H. Obama
The White House
1600 Pennsylvania Avenue Northwest
Washington, DC  20500

Dear Mr. President,

My name is Wendy and I am a daughter, a friend, a student, and, most importantly, a dreamer. I came to this country in 1999 from Peru when I was seven years old, accompanied by my mother, father, and sister. Getting on the plane, I did not know that words like "undocumented" and "dreams" would play such a major role in my young adult life. Growing up in New York, I began to embrace the United States and the feeling of being an American; I learned to balance this country's traditions with my own without difficulty. I came to notice that the people around me, regardless of their different ethnic backgrounds and customs, were not so different from me after all.

As early as elementary school, I worked hard to get good grades, going from ESL in second grade to straight A's by third grade. I graduated the sixth grade with a great reputation amongst my peers and teachers; the logical thing to do at that point was reach for the same level of success in high school. Upon entering high school, I was sure that I would flourish both socially and academically--with nothing to get in the way of me and my aspirations. I thought high school would be yet another chapter in my life that would be full of ease and more opportunities to make my parents proud.  Academically, I was able to flourish. I was in advanced classes as a freshman and sophomore, which made it possible for me to take Advanced Placement College level courses in my junior and senior years. I became involved in various extracurricular activities, and tried my best to hold office or be as much of an active member in everything that I joined. Being a member of clubs such as Students Against Destructive Decisions (S.A.D.D.) and the Foreign Language Honor Society allowed me to do two things that are very important to me: reach out to the youth in my community by teaching them about healthy decision making, as well as advocating unity amongst all individuals regardless of their backgrounds.

Click here to read more.
Posted 07/21/10 at 04:13pm By Jackie Mahendra

DREAM Now Series: Letter from Yahaira Carrillo to President Barack Obama

Yahaira is an undocumented immigrant from Guerrero, Mexico who has lived in Missouri since she was 8 years old. After graduating in the top of her high school class, she is currently working towards her Bachelor’s degree. Yahaira had hoped to enter the U.S. Marines, but left the ROTC program after realizing she wouldn’t be able to pursue a career in the military. Read Yahaira’s story in her own words below, in an excerpt from letter she wrote to President Obama.

Editor's Note: In case you missed it, the DREAM Now letter series launched this summer, with a letter from DREAM Act student Mohammad Abdollahi -- check it out over at Crooks and Liars. The first featured letter-writer, Mohammad, helped to organize a week of DREAM mobilization in DC, which consisted of lobby visits, a "mock graduation," and rallies. The mobilization took a controversial turn yesterday, as 21 young people engaged in civil disobedience in the nation's capitol to highlight the urgency they feel for moving the legislation -- the youth risked deportation because of their immigration status.  

Senator Reid was quoted on his desire to move forward on the DREAM Act, with comprehensive reform stalled, but much work remains to ensure DREAM passes.

The DREAM Now letters to follow each week, from undocumented young people who feel they must tell their stories, will be used to call attention to the urgent need to pass the DREAM Act without further delay. Please get involved by posting the letters on your blog, your facebook or twitter profiles, or wherever you can. Together we can make the DREAM Act a reality for the million or more young people whose lives are now on hold, waiting for this critical legislation -- a stepping stone to full immigration reform that 70% of Americans support.

---Jackie

An excerpt from today's DREAM Now Letter: Yahaira Carrillo (Click here to read Yahaira's full letter to President Obama, including news of her arrest yesterday):

...I was born in 1985 to a barely-turned 16 year-old who had been kicked out of her house while she was pregnant for being a disgrace to the family. I lived with my mother in an abandoned house in Guerrero, Mexico. She struggled to find work, but was either harassed or asked for sexual favors. She said no. She was 17 in 1986 when the 8.1 magnitude earthquake hit Mexico. She decided to take me to the U.S., but we didn't stay that long. At my grandmother's request, we returned to Mexico. The hits kept coming: my mother ended an abusive relationship with a military man and feared for her life.

Click here to read more.
Posted 07/19/10 at 05:33pm By Jackie Mahendra

DREAM Now Series Launch: Letter From Mohammad Abdollahi to President Barack Obama

Editor's note: CNN reports on today's DC DREAM Act mobilization, in "Students Lobby to Become Citizens." America's Voice is a proud founding partner of the new DREAM Now letter series, which launched today, July 19th, 2010. We expect this campaign to educate the public and our leaders in Washington about the urgent need to legalize qualified immigrant youth, who are Americans in all but paperwork. Please get involved by cross-posting DREAM Now letters to your blog, sharing them on facebook, or tweeting about them and including "@BarackObama" and "#dreamletters." While we have a very real shot at passing this critical legislation, we can't do this alone -- please do your part and help spread the word!

---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. 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, havegood 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!

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.  Every Monday and Wednesday DREAM-eligible youth will publish letters to the President, and each Friday there will be a DREAM wrap-up.  If you're interested in getting involved or posting these stories on your site, please email Kyle de Beausset at: kyle  at  citizenorange  dot  com.

The first letter:

President Barack H. Obama
The White House
1600 Pennsylvania Avenue Northwest
Washington, DC  20500

Dear Mr. President,

My name is Mohammad Abdollahi and I am an undocumented immigrant.  Two months ago I made history.   

On May 17, according to the New York Times, I become one of the first undocumented students, along with two others, to "have directly risked deportation in an effort to prompt Congress to  take up [the DREAM Act]."  Risking deportation was no small act for me.  Not only did I risk being forcibly removed from United States, the only country I know as my home, to Iran, where I don't know the culture  or the language.  I also happen to be gay.  In Iran, people like me are tortured and executed. I am still at risk of deportation and execution, right now, and I will continue to be at risk until the DREAM Act is passed. 

Click here to read more.

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