09/12/12 As we enter the thick of campaign season, we’re starting to see the new paradigm of immigration politics play out in television ads. Candidates who support common sense reform are leaning into the issue. And, they’re pushing that message to an important constituency: Latino voters. The Obama/Biden campaign has Spanish language ads on the air [...]
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09/11/12 Writing at The Hill’s Congress Blog, Caesar Vargas — a DREAMer and activist who was in Tampa and Charlotte —  has a post-convention analysis on the politics of immigration. During the Democratic National Convention, Benita Veliz made history during her prime time appearance by being the first undocumented immigrant, or DREAMer, to speak before a national party [...]
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09/10/12 While we don’t always agree with Ruben Navarrette’s writing, we usually think he makes provocative points in a way that calls out both parties fairly.  However, there are a few claims in his most recent column that are so wildly out of context (and so egregiously misrepresent history) that we feel compelled to respond. In his [...]
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09/07/12 On August 15, DREAMers around the country began filing applications with the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) to request temporary relief from deportation. The deferred action process, as it is known, would also give DREAMers the ability to work and (in some cases) drive for at least two years. Recognizing that the cost of the [...]
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09/06/12 While Benita was making her historic speech at the Democratic National Convention last night, we were watching Twitter blow up talking about her.  Here’s a compilation of some of those tweets, many notably talking about how Benita was received last night compared to how she would be received at, say, the RNC: Benita Veliz. A valedictorian [...]
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09/06/12 Yesterday featured some stark reminders of why politics and elections matter. On stage at last night’s Democratic National Convention, DREAM Act advocate Benita Veliz spoke to the assembled delegates and television audience and shared her compelling personal story: “I graduated as a valedictorian of my high school class at the age of 16, and I [...]
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09/06/12 History was made last night at the Democratic National Convention when Benita Veliz–the first DREAMer ever to speak at a convention–took the podium to tell her story. You can watch the video of her remarks here: And the transcript: My name is Benita Veliz, and I’m from San Antonio, Texas. Like so many Americans of [...]
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09/05/12 Day Two of the Democratic National Convention will feature an historic occurrence – DREAM Act advocate Benita Veliz will speak to the assembled delegates and television audience during the 9 PM hour.  Following a video focused on immigration policy, Benita will take the stage to share her own personal story, applaud the DREAM documentation program [...]
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08/28/12 Mitt Romney won’t give an answer as to what he’ll do about the deferred action policy for DREAMers  if he wins, but Texas GOP Senate candidate Ted Cruz isn’t afraid to say what he thinks. Cruz wants Romney to end it. Via Elise Foley at Huffington Post: Ted Cruz, a Republican senatorial candidate from Texas, [...]
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08/20/12 The reviews are in about the first few days of deferred action, with a range of observers praising the program and citing inspiring stories of young people who have a new opportunity to contribute to the only country they know as home.  Describing an application workshop held by the Illinois Coalition for Immigrant and Refugee [...]
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08/20/12 Right after I heard the Obama Administration’s deferred action guidelines, I went to the FAQ section on the USCIS website and searched for the word “travel.” As happy as I am about the fact that I will now be able to work and contribute to this country, I was most looking forward to learning about [...]
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08/17/12 The beginning of deferred action made for quite an historic day yesterday, with tens of thousands of DREAMers lining up from Chicago to El Paso to Los Angeles waiting to receive assistance on their applications.  Yet in the midst of a nationwide celebration and day of victory, there remained the anti-immigrant extremists from the peanut [...]
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08/17/12 Just how far will Arizona’s Governor Jan Brewer go? On Wednesday, a day when DREAMers all over the country were celebrating the beginning of President Obama’s deferred action program, Governor Brewer was busy playing the Grinch by issuing an executive order that would prevent local immigrant youth from being able to access state services like [...]
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08/16/12 Yesterday, when Mitt Romney visited Birmingham, Alabama for a fundraising event at the city’s exclusive restaurant — “The Club” — he was met outside by a number of protestors from the Immigrant Youth Leadership Initiative of Alabama. The group chanted “education, not deportation” and held up signs that read “no papers, no fear.” Last year, [...]
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08/16/12 Yesterday’s official launch of the deferred action program for DREAMers offered a reminder about how public policy changes can sometimes directly affect people’s lives.  Unfortunately, yesterday also brought a reminder of the way politics can butt in on even the most celebratory of days, bringing into view the sharp distinctions between the parties on immigration [...]
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08/16/12 As DREAMers lined up to attend events around the country yesterday to learn more about the deferred action process and get help filling out their applications, America’s Voice decided to honor the day by sharing with our list of advocates the true meaning of the day — straight from the DREAMers themselves. With help from [...]
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08/15/12 Today, the first of nearly 1.7 million DREAMers can begin applying for deferred action under a program that was announced by President Obama earlier this year in June. (See the Washington Post article here.) The political impact of this is clear. Over the next month, hundreds of thousands of DREAMers will be seen on  TV, [...]
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08/15/12 The biggest day for immigration in decades is finally here! Following President Obama’s June 15, 2012 announcement that DREAM Act-eligible youth would be able to request deferred action and protection from deportation, the US Citizenship and Immigration Services has begun accepting applications from immigrant youth.  Eligible beneficiaries will be given a Social Security number and [...]
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08/14/12 With the DREAMer “Deferred Action” process set to begin accepting applications tomorrow, Mitt Romney still refuses to answer a simple question: on his first day as President, would he keep or revoke this new policy? After bringing on hardline anti-immigrant activists as advisors, and taking hardline immigration positions during the primary, Romney has stuck to the [...]
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08/08/12 On Friday, the Obama Administration released guidelines for the President’s decision to provide qualifying DREAMers with a two year work permit and temporary relief from deportation. This relief is without a doubt the most significant victory our movement has seen in decades.  Now, with less than two weeks to go until August 15th – the [...]
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08/07/12 Today was the launch of United We DREAM’s (UWD) national “We Own the DREAM/¡Unete Al Sueño!” campaign. UWD, along with national allies, held a press conference at the American Immigration Lawyers Association to discuss the new guidelines for deferred action and to assist eligible aspiring citizens with the application process. The campaign will join the resources [...]
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08/03/12 The following is a statement from Lynn Tramonte, Deputy Director at America’s Voice Education Fund, responding to today’s release of additional Deferred Action guidelines by the Department of Homeland Security (DHS): There’s a lot of excitement around this announcement from DHS because the pieces are falling into place.  In less than two weeks, thousands of young immigrants [...]
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08/03/12 Cross-Posted at Sojourners:  As many as 1.4 million undocumented immigrant youth— aka “DREAMers” — would qualify for temporary work permits and be shielded from deportation once President Obama’s DREAMer relief goes into effect August 15. I am one of these DREAMers. I came to this country from Peru when I was five years old. While I miss my homeland, [...]
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08/03/12 I met Marco almost four years ago. At the time, I was working at Sojourners Magazine and he was one of our interns.  Nobody knew that he was undocumented. For as long as I have known Marco, he has inspired everyone around him. The guy can quote Dr. King like no one I know. In [...]
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08/02/12 Senator Marco Rubio (R-FL) continues to criticize the President’s smart move to protect DREAM-eligible young people from deportation—despite clear similarities between Obama’s action and the bill Rubio has talked about introducing for months.  In an interview with Florida reporters, Rubio said the Obama program will end up binge a “bureaucratic nightmare” and make it more [...]
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08/01/12 Yesterday the Immigration Policy Center (IPC) released a treasure trove of data on DREAM Act-eligible youth, including where they come from and where in the US they tend to live.  The report, entitled “Who and Where the DREAMers Are: A Demographic Profile of Immigrants Who Might Benefit from the Obama Administration’s Deferred Action Initiative,” is [...]
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07/26/12 President Obama’s June announcement (that DREAM Act-eligible youth would be spared from deportation and granted work permits) was widely applauded as a move that would finally grant relief to young immigrants and allow them to move toward legal status.  But a shady, cynical cadre of fraudulent lawyers and notarios has already sprung up, prepared to [...]
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