Category Archives: Communications

Dream Team Members Garner Online Traction

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Dream Team LA members Nancy Meza, Carlos Amador and Erick Huerta were all featured for their open editorials and blog post on two different sites. All three members continued the ongoing dialogue of what it means to be young, undocumented while growing up in the United States with their individual contributions.

Both Nancy, along with Erick, contributed to the brand new “Dream Activist Blogging Series” on the Huffington Post, Latino Voices page. In her post, “Immigration Is Not Just An Election Year Issue, It Is A Reality Millions Of Undocumented People In The U.S Have To Face Every Day,” Nancy discusses the need for politicians and multi-million dollar corporations, to be held accountable for their role in driving immigrants from their home countries with unbalanced foreign trade policies, such as NAFTA. Continue reading →

I Support AB 131 – Wil’ Prada’s Story

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My name is Wilber Omar Prada Escudero, Peruano con orgullo! I recently graduated from UCLA with a degree in Political Science. I arrived to this country as a seven year old kid, elated to meet my father who had come to the U.S when I was just three years old. The reason he came was because of the incessant terrorism threatening his workplace. I remember the elevator door opening, and seeing an overweight man extending his arms and smiling at my mother and I. My mother ran to hug him but I was more reserved, the reunion wasn’t what I expected, it was like meeting any other stranger because I only had vague memories of him. As time progressed and I got to know him, I learned to value how he sacrificed so much for us, working three jobs just to pay off the debt of money it took to bring us here. Yes, we did come with a coyote, we tried to get in line to get a visa but one thing citizens don’t know is that there is no line for poor people. They look at you like subhumans in the immigration office if you aren’t white and have no money, your application isn’t considered. We had to take the other avenue if we would continue to be a family, and here I was, in a new world with very little family, a totally new language, and a new school.
Over time I learned what not having “papeles” really meant for our family. It meant we would have to go to the lawyer every so often and my parents would return frustrated that our political asylum case wasn’t going well. It turned out the lawyer was less than qualified and was renowned for extorting desperate immigrants. Furthermore, when we would speak to our family in Peru over the phone, the phrase “pronto estaremos juntos” seemed eternal. I couldn’t understand why I couldn’t play with my cousins Jorge and Victor again, or why I couldn’t see my Mama Peta or Papa Ciro. Such laws don’t really make sense to a ten year old child, but as a child I could sure feel the melancholic emotions that came along with them.
When college was finally on the horizon, I innocently called the FAFSA number and asked whether I could get financial aid. They asked for my information and when I had to reveal that I didn’t have a social, the person told me that I “shouldn’t be in this country” and hung up the phone. I paused for a minute and felt helpless; maybe I didn’t belong here after all, but I certainly wouldn’t belong in Peru anymore either, where was I from? Fortunately, we found a college support group, IDEAS at UCLA, that helped us move beyond the impossibility of affording school and gave us a sense of community and safety. It was somewhere I belonged. It was a large strain on my family to help me pay for school, but through scholarships and fund raising, I was able to continue my dreams.
The California Dream Act is a glimmer of hope for me. It is one of a few, but very important victories that tell me that a more just future for dreamers and immigrants in general may be possible. There have been years of grassroots work and we have finally seen the fruits of all that effort. It IS possible to challenge the hateful conservative radio hosts, to build support from educators who know first hand the potential of dreamers if they could further their education, and to successfully offer people a different perspective than the dehumanizing views they had already accepted from the mainstream. Furthering my studies in graduate school is more possible now. As an undocumented student, one often gets stunted for many quarters trying to raise money for tuition. The worries of paying for books, food, and housing are just as common but even stronger than those of getting the best grades.
To me the California Dream Act is also plain justice. For 17 years, we have paid our taxes, contributed and volunteered in our community in Los Angeles, and have stayed out of trouble. My mother took care of the children of citizens for a couple of years, taught Spanish to some citizens from our local church, and cleans the houses of citizens. My father washed the plates of citizens, trimmed citizen’s trees, and even lent money to a citizen who would otherwise have gone homeless. They did all these things without judging whether each citizen had committed an infraction in the past, because they saw the citizens as fellow human beings, papers or not. We immigrants have contributed much to our American home, and it is time we have equal access to education.

Dreamers Profiled in USC Video

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Jesus Cortez in the classroom

Jesus Cortez and Martha Vazquez are profiled by Jessica Flores, a journalism student, currently at USC for the program, “Impact.” The video highlights the work and everyday struggles both Cortez and Vazquez face, how they exceed, despite being held by back their immigration status and how they are fighting to change all of that. You can view the 20 min segment yourself, here.

 

Undocu-Media Workshop

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Dream Team Los Angeles in Collaboration with Dreamers Adrift will be hosting an Undocumedia workshop. This workshop is open to current media makers, both undocumented & allies, and to those who are seriously committed to creating and contributing to their own forms of media .

This workshop will focus on strengthening our media skills ( in multiple platforms of media ) and creating a vision of what and where we want to see undocumented youth media.

Priority will be given to those who are part of a group/organization. Space will also be given to those individuals who are not part of an organization, but want to contribute to the creation of undocumented media.

If you are interested in attending please send the following to undocumedia@gmail.com

Name
Organization ( if you are part of an organization )
What type of media do you create or are interesting in creating ?
What does undocumedia mean to you ?

Space is limited to 30 people, so please submit your information ASAP to secure your attendance to the workshop.

With much love

Dreamers Adrift and 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.

Governor Brown Signs AB 131 2nd Half of CA Dream Act

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Today Governor Brown signed AB 131, the second portion of the California Dream Act, into law and demonstrated California’s leadership in advancing equal access to higher education for all. Undocumented students applaud Governor Brown’s leadership in investing in the next generation of Californians.

The California Dream Act was first introduced on January 11, 2011 by Assemblymember Gil Cedillo, and will allow students that meet the in-state tuition requirements to apply for and receive specified financial aid administered by California’s public colleges and universities.  It is estimated that there are over 25,000 undocumented students who graduate every year from California’s high schools. Economic projections for the state of California suggest that by 2025 two of every five jobs will require a college graduate. AB 131 brings California a step closer towards fulfilling this need by allowing undocumented students to continue their education.

“As undocumented students we’ve faced a particularly difficult challenge in financing our education because of our ineligibility to apply for financial aid.  The California Dream Act will protect the investment the state of California has made in our education,” said Erick Huerta , a Dream Team Los Angeles member and community college student .

According to a statement released by the Office of Governor Jerry Brown, “The California Department of Finance estimates that 2,500 students will qualify for Cal Grants as a result of AB 131, at a cost of $14.5 million. The overall Cal Grant program is funded at $1.4 billion, meaning that 1 percent of all Cal Grant funds will be potentially impacted by AB 131 when the law goes into effect”

The passage of the California Dream Act sends a strong message of hope to the rest of the country that we will continue to fight for justice until all immigrants are given an equal opportunity to fulfill their dreams.

 

For more information,
Contact: Nancy Meza
Phone: (424) 785-4013
Email: dreamteamlosangeles@gmail.com

 

Dream Team L.A.

California Dream Act (AB 131) Week of Action

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California Dream Act (AB 131) Week of Action May 23 – May 27

The time to take action is now! We need AB 131 out of the Appropriations Committee! We have until May 27 to get the bill out of the suspense file!

Immediate actions you can take:

1) Call, call, call! (see script below)

You can also join us on Wednesday, May 25, 2011 at a call-in center starting at 10 a.m.
675 S. Park View St.
Los Angeles, CA 90067
Contact: dreamteamlosangeles@gmail.com for more details as needed

3) Make sure 5 of your friends do the same

Please call the following key legislators:

  • Assemblyman Felipe Fuentes, Appropriations Committee Chair  (916) 319-2039
  • Assemblyman Bob Blumenfield, Budget Committee Chair  (916) 319-2040
  • Assembly Speaker John Perez,  (916) 319-2046

Script:

“Hi my name is _______I am with________(affiliation or constituent). I am calling to thank Assemblymember (Fuentes, Blumenfield, or Perez)  for his leadership and his support on AB 130, half of the CA Dream Act. I also count on his support for AB 131; which is currently in the Assembly Appropriations’ suspense file. Thank you.”

Es hora de Actuar! Necesitamos sacar la propuesta AB 131 fuera del Comité de Apropiaciones!

Por favor llame a los siguientes legisladores claves:

  • Asambleísta Felipe Fuentes, Presidente del Comité de Apropiaciones (916) 319-2039
  • Asambleísta Bob Blumenfield, Presdiente del Comité de Presupuesto  (916) 319-2040
  • Presidente de la Asamblea John Perez,  (916) 319-2046

Comentario: Ten buenos modales

“Hola, mi nombre es _______ y soy parte de _______ (afiliación o constituyente). Estoy llamando para agradecer al Asambleísta (Fuentes, Blumenfield, Perez) por su liderazgo y apoyo a la propouesta AB 130, la mitad de la Acta del Sueño de California. Espero contar también con su apoyo para la propuesta AB 131, la cual está en suspenso en el Comité de Apropiaciones de la Asamblea. Gracias.”

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