Recently in Migrant Youth Category

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.

America's Voice sent out an action alert celebrating our victory with Ivan Nikolov and asking folks to do the same for Selvin Arevalo.  Sending a fax, and asking your friends to do the same, is probably the single most important thing you can do for Selvin.  It will also do a lot for the DREAM Act as the faxes will go to two key Senate votes, Republicans Olympia Snowe and Susan Collins.   

I'm so glad to share some more good news with you: After spending three months in jail facing deportation, Ivan Nikolov was released last week!

Now, Ivan's safe at home with his fiancée and stepdad, and it's all thanks to your help. Together, we sent nearly 15,000 faxes to the Department of Homeland Security and ICE, and another 2,800 faxes to Ivan's Congressional representatives in Michigan, sharing his story and urging his release. Our persistence paid off, and Ivan is back home with his loved ones in Michigan.

Now, another young man -- Selvin Arevalo -- urgently needs our help.

We've seen just how successful these campaigns can be. We helped save Ivan Nikolov in Michigan and Marlen Moreno in Arizona. Now Selvin Arevalo needs our help. Send a fax now to stop Selvin's deportation!

http://AmericasVoiceOnline.org/Selvin

The call for Selvin Arevalo on Tuesday went better than I could have imagined.  Below is the audio followed by two press releases, one in English and one in Spanish:



Leaders from the Religious, Child Advocacy, and Immigrant Communities Urge ME Senators to Intervene in Deportation of Selvin Arevalo

Call for Federal Action on DREAM Act this September as a Step toward Comprehensive Immigration Reform

Portland, ME - Immigrant and child advocates joined religious leaders from Maine on a call today to press Congress to pass the DREAM Act in September and to urge Senator Susan Collins (R-ME) and Senator Olympia Snowe (R-ME) to intervene in the deportation case of Selvin Arevalo, an American student who may soon be deported to Guatemala.  Selvin's story is the most recent of thousands across the U.S. highlighting the need for federal action.

Opportunity for DREAM Act Could Make the Difference for Mainer

Advocates Ask Senators Snowe and Collins to Support Passage this September, Intervene in Arevalo Case

Portland, ME - Today, August 31st at 2:30 pm ET, immigrant advocates and community leaders will urge Senator Susan Collins (R-ME) and Senator Olympia Snowe (R-ME) to intervene in the deportation case of Selvin Arevalo, an American student who may soon be deported to Guatemala, and to press their colleagues in the Senate to pass the DREAM Act this September.

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 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.

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,

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.

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 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.

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,

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.

[Video courtesy of Democracia Ahora]

Update: Read DREAMer Matias Ramos's account at firedoglake of why he stood up for the DREAM Act at Netroots Nation.

After last week's civil disobedience action in Washington, D.C., when 21 undocumented youth were arrested for peacefully sitting in Senate Office buildings, four DREAM Act-eligible youth stood in silence during Harry Reid's remarks at Netroots Nation Saturday to ensure he doesn't forget about the importance of passing the DREAM Act this legislative session.

Four DREAM Act-eligible undocumented activists, or DREAMers--Matias Ramos, Yahaira Carrillo, Lizbeth Mateo, and Prerna Lal--had traveled to Netroots Nation to participate in panel discussions, network, and raise awareness of the DREAM Act.

And to participate in direct actions like a mock ICE checkpoint at the entrance to a Civil Rights luncheon in which white Netroots Nation attendees were stopped and asked for ID while people of color were waved through. (How cool is an ICE checkpoint run by undocumented activists?) And then to break the action down beautifully to the video activists who filmed them.

During the "Q&A With the Speaker" segment at Netroots Nation on Saturday at the point that Senator Reid began answering a question about comprehensive immigration reform and the DREAM Act, the four DREAMers at the conference walked up solemnly to stand in front of the stage where Reid was sitting with moderator Joan McCarter. Dressed in the graduation caps and gowns which have become the symbol of the undocumented youth movement, they stood in silence to remind Senator Reid of his commitment last week to move the DREAM Act forward once advocacy organizations signaled that comprehensive reform was no longer viable this year.

I'm in Las Vegas, today, for Netroots Nation 2010.  It's my third time in this city, my first time over 21.  Las Vegas is a plastic city, at least where all the resorts are.  Everything is designed to get you to spend money.  I had to drop $20 for wireless just to write this, and I haven't even gambled yet! 

I'm here to put on a panel entitled "'Illegal' Organizing: Lessons from the Migrant Youth Movement."  The description is as follows: