Author Archives: Nancy Meza

I Support AB 131 – Joaquin Torres’ Story

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My name is Joaquin Torres and I support AB 131. I was brought over to the United States at the age of one. As much as I would love to, I can’t say I have any idea of what life in Mexico is. Nevertheless, it’s been ingrained in me through society that I am neither welcome, nor appreciated. As a child my parents always told me to educate myself if I ever wanted to succeed in life. I have been adamant in following the lectures that they always gave me.

My teachers, counselors, family all praised me along the way. Through my own determination I graduated high school with a 3.5 gpa, while passing several AP exams. I scored at the top of my class in the ACT and SAT tests for university admission. I even got accepted into Santa Clara University. My life would have been all but a dream had I not been reminded every day that I have no papers.

Luckily I can say that I am the youngest of my family and thus haven’t had to face the same struggle as some individuals but yet I feel some kind of entitlement. In the end I have had a disillusionment with merits. I feel that I have a lot to offer that I haven’t done simply because I can’t. And now at San Jose City College I feel like I’m being cheated out of a higher quality education. I have been doing all I can, I even completed a semester of college while in high school through AP exams. Ultimately, I want to finish my transfer requirements by Fall 2012. I am really hoping that if all goes well, I will be able to receive financial aid by the time I transfer. Given the conditions of my upbringing, and those of our society, all I really want is an education regardless of the institution.

 

 

I support AB 131- Yesenia Capellino’s story

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My name is Yesenia Capellino. With the hard work of many supporting me, I am proud to say that I’m a student at UCLA, majoring in Psychology. It is a surreal experience being undocumented, but now, more then ever, I am optimistic about my future. Since the passage of AB 131, I know I will have the financial help to obtain my Bachelor’s Degree and continue on to Graduate school and eventually working my way into getting a doctorate. Ultimately, I wish to fulfill my mothers desires for wanting a better life for me and my siblings.

I want to take what I learned in school and give back to the community that has helped shape me into the motivated person I am today. In California, we are very fortunate to have the support of our political leaders, through the passage of the CA DREAM Act, because it is a worthwhile investment, it gives all DREAMers ambition to keep fighting and pushing forward, toward our goals and DREAMS.

I Support AB131- Erick Huerta’s Story

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As an undocumented student, one of the biggest challenges I face on a daily basis has always been trying to figure out how to pay for school. Everything, from tuition, books, transportation and food all add up each semester and the decision to stay in school becomes harder and harder to make. I can’t always afford to be in school, so that means taking small breaks until I have enough money to cover the cost, and always playing catch up.

With AB 131, I and other undocumented students will finally have the opportunity to focus solely on school. Living in a low-income community like East L.A., in which families prioritize making ends meat over an education, graduating from high school and being the first in your family to attend college is a momentous mile stone. AB 131 will provide the aid and opportunities for students like myself, and others to continue and finish their education. CA has supported undocumented students in the past, and now it will provide more opportunities for us to succeed.

Erick Huerta is a Journalism student at East Los Angeles Community College and a member of Dream Team Los Angeles

Call out for 131 stories in support of AB131

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Dream Team Los Angeles is currently working on collecting 131 stories in support of AB 131, the more substantial portion of the CA Dream Act. AB 131 will allow undocumented students to qualify and compete for Institutional and State financial aid. As many of you already know, both dreamers and allies have been working for the passage of this bill for 10 years now, and know the positive impact it’ll have on CA.

That’s why DTLA wants to know, how will AB 131 help you in achieving your educational goals?
Tell us, in your own words how the passage of this historic bill will have an affect on your life and community. There is no right or wrong answer, just share your everyday struggles paying for tuition, books, rent, food and transportation as an undocumented student in college and how AB 131 will help you.

If you are interested in submitting your story / blog post/ poetry please send them to dtlamedia@gmail.com before December 29th 2011 . We will be sharing your stories on our website, as well through our facebook and twitter pages. You can also send a picture of yourself, if you feel comfortable enough to do so, a short bio of yourself, school you’re attending and your major to be included with your story.

We have a Facebook event page set up, so folks can join and spread the word about the call out for stories.

Bellow is a brief description of what AB131 will do just in case some of you need a little refresher.

What does AB 131 do?

AB 131 builds on previous legislative victories for undocumented students in California.
AB 540 was passed in 2001 and allows qualifying students to pay in-state tuition instead of higher out-of-state fees. More information on AB 540: http://ab540.com/
AB 130 was passed on July 25, 2011 and goes into effect on January 1, 2012. It gives California public colleges and universities the opportunity to allow undocumented students, who are AB 540-eligible students at their respective school, apply and compete for scholarship awards. This includes scholarships funded through private donors, alumni contributions or individual departmental efforts.

AB 131 specifically allows AB 540-eligible students to participate in state-funded financial aid programs, which include Cal Grants, institutional aid such as that funded by tuition revenue, and the Board of Governor’s Fee Waiver at the community college level. AB 131 is slated to take effect on January 1, 2013.

POST COURT STATEMENT FROM UNDOCUMENTED STUDENTS ARRESTED FOR DEMANDING ADMINISTRATIVE RELIEF

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Today Nov 2, 2011 we (Neidi Dominguez,Nancy Meza ,Tony Ortuño, Francisco Bravo and Adrian Gonzalez  ) showed up to our arraignment hearing and were told that no charges were filed against us yet. However, the City Attorney of Los Angeles has 1 years to file charges against us as a result from our Oct 12, 2011 sit in at the ICE Chief prosecutor’s office. We wanted to inform the public about this most recent update of our case and thank you for all the support.

We also wanted to use this moment to also further highlight the very flawed criminal and immigration system that currently work hand by hand to prosecute and criminalized immigrants in this country. Although today the five of us were able to walk away from court facing no criminal charges for holding this government accountable for their unjust actions against Dream Act youth and our families in the country. We know that this is not the norm and that in fact we are 5 “lucky” undocumented youth in this country as were able to leave that court as “free” women and men.

We know and we want to make sure that everyone knows that a record number of over one million immigrants have been deported by this Administration who plans to continue these mass deportation immigrants which include Dream Act eligible youth. Even after the June DHS public announcement of the prosecutorial changes we know that deportations continue to rise. We also know the devastation these deportations are causing families, communities and this Nation.

We walked out of that courthouse today further convinced that we must continue to confront and hold President Obama’s administration accountable for their actions to quickly grant Administrative Relief to ALL Dream Act eligible youth. We will not take NO for an answer. We know he has the power and authority to do so and that our communities are becoming evermore agitated and tired of the inactivity of President Obama on immigration policies. If he is counting with our communities for his re-election in 2012 and he will not respond to the issues that matter to our communities then  he will need to start listening and acting on issues affecting our community today.

With much love

Neidi, Nancy, Tony, Francisco ( AKA “ Pancho” )  and Adrian

FIVE UNDOCUMENTED STUDENT LEADERS WHO WERE ARRESTED AFTER CHALLENGING LOCAL AND NATIONAL LAWS TO DEMAND ADMINISTRATIVE RELIEF GO TO COURT

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PRESS STATEMENT

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:                                                                                                       Contact: Carlos Amador
November 1st, 2011
Cell: (909) 524-6308
dreamteamlosangeles@gmail.com

FIVE UNDOCUMENTED STUDENT LEADERS WHO WERE ARRESTED AFTER CHALLENGING  LOCAL AND NATIONAL LAWS TO DEMAND ADMINISTRATIVE RELIEF GO TO COURT

Undocumented youth, the immigrant community and supporters were hopeful that the recent announcements by President Obama and the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) would bring relief to DREAM Act-eligible youth by putting an end to their deportations. However, due to programs like Secure Communities and 287g, and the lack of a clear mechanism of implementation, the numbers of undocumented youth who are incarcerated, shackled and deported to countries they barely know continues to rise.

On October 12, 2011 five undocumented leaders of the immigrant rights movement Neidi Dominguez,Nancy Meza from Los Angeles;Tony Ortuño, Francisco Bravo and Adrian Gonzalez from Orange County were detained in Los Angeles, CA as they walked into ICE Chief Prosecutor’s office to demand that President Obama to stop the deportation of undocumented youth and allow them the opportunity to apply for work authorization. These leaders were arrested by the Los Angeles Police Department and released hours later.

The five undocumented student leaders highlighted the urgency for President Obama to take action on his words of support for DREAM Act-eligible youth. “We cannot continue to live in fear until Congress acts on the DREAM Act. President Obama needs to take action on his words and must exercise his executive power to grant Administrative Relief to DREAM Act – eligible youth,” said Tony Ortuño, one of the students who was arrested .  The students will appear before a Judge Wednesday November 2nd 2011 and will be available to provide an update on the National Administrative Relief Campaign.

Interviews will be available upon request

Senator Calls on Administration to Grant Deferred Action for DREAM Act Youth Gillibrand: “Every Young Person Deserves a Chance at the American Dream”

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Senator Calls on Administration to Grant Deferred Action for DREAM Act Youth Gillibrand: “Every Young Person Deserves a Chance at the American Dream”

April 13, 2011

Washington, DC – U.S .Senator Kirsten Gillibrand joined Majority Leader Harry Reid and 16 of her Senate colleagues today in calling on President Obama to halt deportations of young people who qualify for the DREAM Act and grant those students and young people deferred action on deportation proceedings. Currently, tens of thousands of young people who were brought to this country by their parents and pose no threat to our national security face the prospect of being deported.

“Current law unfairly punishes thousands of young people who grew up here and know only America as their home, holding them back from making a contribution to our country’s military and economy,” said Senator Gillibrand, an original co-sponsor of the DREAM Act. “These young people deserve better. They deserve a chance at the American dream – to work hard, get a good education, serve in the military, earn their way to legal status, help grow our economy and keep our country safe. While we work to move this important bill forward, I urge the President to take action now by halting these deportations to strengthen our national security and our economy.”

The Senators wrote in a letter to President Obama, “We would support a grant of deferred action to all young people who meet the rigorous requirements necessary to be eligible for cancellation of removal or a stay of removal under the DREAM Act. We strongly believe that DREAM Act students should not be removed from the United States, because they have great potential to contribute to our country and children should not be punished for their parents’ mistakes.”

The DREAM Act is legislation that would provide 50,000 to 65,000 young people who were brought to America by their parents access to an affordable college education, U.S. citizenship, and eligibility to serve in America’s armed forces. The DREAM Act passed the House last year, but was blocked by a Senate filibuster in December 2010. Senator Gillibrand will continue to push for passage of this legislation in the 112th Congress.

Led by Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, the Senators are calling President Obama to take action now and authorize the Department of Homeland Security to grant deferred action for all DREAM Act students who meet the strict requirements needed to be eligible to stay in the United States.

The Senators also expressed strong support for a uniform, orderly system for handling DREAM Act cases, including allowing DREAM Act students to apply for deferred action, tracking DREAM Act cases, and deciding cases earlier in the process rather than after students have received a final deportation order.

The letter was signed by Senators Harry Reid (D-NV), Dick Durbin (D-IL), Patrick Leahy (D-VT), Carl Levin (D-MI), Maria Cantwell (D-WA), Patty Murray (D-WA), Mark Begich (D-AK), Jack Reed (D-RI), Barbara Mikulski (D-MD), Frank Lautenberg (D-NJ), Joseph Lieberman (I-CT), Barbara Boxer (D-CA), Richard Blumenthal (D-CT), Chris Coons (D-DE), Dianne Feinstein (D-CA), Michael Bennet (D-CO), Kirsten Gillibrand (D-NY), John Kerry (D-MA), Jeff Bingaman (D-NM), Daniel Akaka (D-HI), Sheldon Whitehouse (D-RI) and Bill Nelson (D-FL).

Full text of the letter is below:

Dear Mr. President:

We write to discuss our mutual interest in a talented group of responsible young people with the potential to further enrich our great nation: individuals eligible for immigration relief under the DREAM Act.

We know that you share our desire to enact comprehensive immigration reform legislation as soon as possible, and we appreciate your support for our efforts to find solutions to this critical problem facing our nation. While we continue to work toward enactment of comprehensive reform of our immigration system, we have also fought to enact the DREAM Act. This legislation would give a select group of students the chance to earn legal status if they arrived in the United States when they were 15 or younger, have lived in this country for at least five years, have good moral character, are not inadmissible or removable under a number of specified grounds, have graduated from high school or obtained a GED, and attend college or serve in the military for two years.

As you know, the DREAM Act passed the U.S. House of Representatives and received a bipartisan majority vote in the U.S. Senate in December. Unfortunately, the support of 55 senators was not enough to overcome a filibuster by the bill’s opponents. We greatly appreciated your strong support for the DREAM Act last year and look forward to working with you to enact it into law in the 112th Congress.

You are the nation’s chief law enforcement officer and are, of course, obligated to enforce the law. However, the exercise of prosecutorial discretion in light of law enforcement priorities and limited resources has a long history in this nation and is fully consistent with our strong interest in the rule of law. Your Administration has a strong record of enforcement, having deported a record number of undocumented immigrants last year. At the same time, you have granted deferred action to a small number of DREAM Act students on a case-by-case basis, just as the Bush Administration did.

We would support a grant of deferred action to all young people who meet the rigorous requirements necessary to be eligible for cancellation of removal or a stay of removal under the DREAM Act. We strongly believe that DREAM Act students should not be removed from the United States, because they have great potential to contribute to our country and children should not be punished for their parents’ mistakes. As you said in your State of the Union Address, “let’s stop expelling talented, responsible young people who could be staffing our research labs or starting a new business, who could be further enriching this nation.” Moreover, it would conserve limited enforcement resources to grant deferred action to DREAM Act students, who are not an enforcement priority for DHS.

We would also support steps short of deferred action that you can take to establish a more orderly and consistent process for handling individual DREAM Act cases.

For example, your administration could establish and publicize a process for DREAM Act students to apply for deferred action. Currently, there is no formal process for applying for deferred action, and many DREAM Act students are unaware of this option. Indeed, the Bush Administration’s U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services Ombudsmen recommended establishing a process for applying for deferred action.

Your administration could also require reporting and tracking of DREAM Act cases. It is our understanding that the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) does not have a process for reporting and tracking DREAM Act cases. As a result, there is no mechanism for ensuring consistent handling of cases by different field offices around the country; no one knows how many DREAM Act eligible individuals are in removal proceedings, how many have applied for deferred action, and how many have been removed. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) field offices frequently deny requests for deferred action in DREAM Act cases without ICE headquarters’ knowledge. Headquarters often only learns about DREAM Act cases from Congressional offices, immigration advocates, or the media, and often requires a private bill or other Congressional action prior to granting deferred action. The Bush Administration’s USCIS Ombudsmen also recommended tracking and headquarters review of deferred action requests to help ensure that there is no geographic disparity in approvals or denials of deferred action requests and that like cases are decided in like manner.

Finally, your administration could decide whether to grant deferred action as early as possible in the process of each individual case. Under current practice, DHS typically will not grant deferred action in a DREAM Act case until an individual receives a final order of deportation and frequently not until days or hours before the removal date. This is an inefficient use of limited resources and is inconsistent with long-standing DHS policy. As then-INS Commissioner Doris Meissner explained in “Exercising Prosecutorial Discretion,” a November 17, 2000 memorandum that is still official DHS policy: “As a general matter, it is better to exercise favorable discretion as early in the process as possible, once the relevant facts have been determined, in order to conserve the Service’s resources and in recognition of the alien’s interest in avoiding unnecessary legal proceedings.”

Thank you for considering these and other measures that would help to provide a more orderly process for handling the cases of young people who would be eligible for relief under the DREAM Act. We look forward to working with you on ways we can enable this talented group of young people to contribute to this nation they call home.

Original Senators’ letter to Obama