08/21/12 “Where are you from?” This is a question that has become increasingly difficult to answer as I get older. Growing up in Miami, I was “la peruana” or “la peruanita” — labels that delineated and affirmed my Peruvian identity. Although I did not know too many Peruvians (I was surrounded by many when compared to [...]
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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 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 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 Cross-Posted at Latino Decisions and Latino Vote Matters: While presumptive Republican presidential nominee Mitt Romney’s anemic support among Latinos is likely to weaken his prospects in states with large or emerging Latino voting populations, it is less clear whether his unpopularity among Latinos will spill-over to down ticket races; an issue of particular import for [...]
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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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07/30/12 “No papers, no fear.” That is the slogan that is driving (so to speak) a group of undocumented immigrants and allies of different ages from Arizona to cities where there is heated anti-immigrant sentiment. The group is calling out the injustices toward immigrants that have been taking place throughout the country, especially in states where there [...]
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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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07/25/12 Yesterday, Senate Majority Whip Richard Durbin (D-IL) took to the stage at the Center for American Progress to launch a new website featuring the lives and stories of DREAMers.  (We live-tweeted the event here.) Durbin has long been one of the foremost advocates of immigration reform and the DREAM Act, first sponsoring the bill to [...]
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07/20/12 Today, United We Dream (UWD), the largest network of immigrant-youth led organizations in the country, announced its campaign to educate 500,000 DREAMers on Obama’s relief policy. They spoke about their plan to educate their communities about the process, the guidelines and documents needed; as well as warned the community of potential notario and other types [...]
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07/17/12 Yesterday, we published the post “State of Play in New Mexico,” from Latino Decision’s Gabe Sanchez, who is also an Associate Professor of Political Science at the University of New Mexico and Director of Research. Gabe wrote: Latinos make up nearly half of the state’s population, and more importantly, comprise nearly 40% of New Mexico’s electorate, the highest ratio [...]
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07/16/12 We’ve been publishing a series of posts from the DREAMers of the Campaign for an American DREAM.  Last month, they set off from San Francisco to begin a 3,000-mile, 8-month+ walk to Washington, DC to call attention to the DREAM Act and the need for immigration reform. Today’s post is from Jonatan Martinez, a DREAMer from Georgia who recently [...]
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07/13/12 While much of the reaction to President Obama’s DREAMer relief announcement has focused on political implications and public opinion polling, a new online feature from The Guardian (UK) focuses on the most important part of the President’s announcement: the personal stories, aspirations, testimonials, and dreams of the young people affected.  These DREAMers will soon to be [...]
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07/11/12 By Mandeep Chahal: For my entire life, just two pieces of paper stood between me and my dreams: a social security card and a work permit. Now with Obama’s new immigration policy, which will begin in mid-August, I will be able to apply and benefit from both of these for at least two years. Last [...]
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07/05/12 When President Obama announced his relief plan for DREAM Act-eligible youth last month, the move was applauded as a highly necessary development in the fight to give relief to undocumented youth in the only country they call home. One important thing Obama’s DREAM relief could not include, however, was any mechanism to help DREAMers pay [...]
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07/05/12 For the past few weeks, it’s been hard to get Mitt Romney to say anything publicly about immigration reform. That’s a marked change from the GOP primary campaign, when the now-Republican nominee never missed a chance to burnish his anti-immigrant credentials to the nativist base of his party. Romney is trying to dodge the issue [...]
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06/29/12 Earlier today, there was a report from the right-wing site, NewsMax, where Mitt Romney was talking about his immigration record: As for children of those who came to this country illegally, “I want to make sure they have a permanent answer as to what their status will be.” He then suggested he would go beyond [...]
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