CAUSA: Students Around the Nation Call for Passage of DREAM Act

Contact:
Katherine Vargas
(202) 383-5987 or (202) 641-51988 (mobile)
(kvargas@immigrationforum.org)

Push for DREAM Act Gains Steam

More than 125 student-led events across the Country call for action on bipartisan immigration legislation

Washington, DC – Today, the United We DREAM Coalition is organizing a day of action with more than 125 events in 26 states in support of the Development, Relief and Education for Alien Minors Act or DREAM Act, bipartisan legislation that will benefit talented immigrant kids who attend college or serve in the military. The following is a statement by Ali Noorani, Executive Director of the National Immigration Forum, a non-partisan, non-profit pro-immigrant advocacy organization in Washington. For more information on today’s DREAM Act events visit the United We DREAM Coalition website.

Today’s national day of action show the energy and enthusiasm of students organizing so they and their families can achieve the American dream. The DREAM Act is a critical component of comprehensive immigration reform and we anticipate that it will be part of the broad package of reforms that begins moving in Congress later this year.

The plight of thousands of students who are culturally American, caught in the limbo of our laws, and who cannot fully integrate into our society remind us of what is at stake in the DREAM Act. Each year that passes by with Congress failing to act on immigration, America looses a vital asset: an educated class of promising immigrant students who have demonstrated a commitment to hard work and a strong desire to be contributing members of our society.

We all recognize the value of higher education and service to our country. By denying these aspiring immigrant youth the opportunity to pursue a brighter future, our country is thwarting their potential to benefit and strengthen the U.S. economy. The bipartisan support enjoyed by the DREAM Act helps set the stage and builds momentum in Congress to address comprehensive immigration reform. It will not be enough to just get these young people into the system unless we create a way for their families to get legal status and get them fully into the American system. As part of a series of reforms that make legal immigration a viable option for families and workers, the DREAM Act makes a ton of sense.”

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• Over the last 3 years, high schools that received the lowest marks from the city have been the ones with the highest percentages of poor, black and Hispanic students, despite an evaluation system that was meant to equalize differences among student bodies, according to an analysis by The New York Times of school grades released this week.
• Hispanics are 9% of the Virginia’s schoolchildren, but 5% of gifted students.
• Deporting undocumented students affects the chances for legal return if Congress doesn’t address it in immigration reform bill
• Hispanic Graduate Students Benefit from Online Education Grant – University of St. Thomas in Houston strives to improve retention and graduation rates for Hispanic graduate students. UST received a $2.8 million education grant to offer two options
• Speaking Out: Students Support Latino Studies Program – Cornell University
• A Chicago City Council committee wants federal officials to halt deportation proceedings against immigrant students. – The Human Relations Committed on Friday approved a resolution urging the Department of Homeland Security to allow immigrant students to stay in the U.S. – Rigo Padilla
• Oregon universities try to recruit more Latino students – In 2007, Latinos made up nearly 12% of the 12th-grade class and less than 6% of freshmen in the university system. About 20% of first-graders that year were Latino.
• Contentnea-Savannah K-8 School officials have worked to make sure their school’s English as a Second Language (ESL) students’ needs are met. The school received 12 mini-laptops last month to help those students with their online ESL courses.- Kinston, North Carolina
• Officials at U.T. Permian Basin are hoping to making this weekend’s Hispanic Youth Summit a regular event. – More than 200 high school students from around the Basin and Big Bend have been in Odessa for the Summit.
• Ill. Board of Education Chair Ruiz, State Senator Lightford & State Representative
• More than 1,200 students are registered to attend the 10th Annual Latino Youth Conference hosted by the Latin American Association in Atlanta.
• Texan Students Debate Financial Aid for Illegal Immigrants
• The scheduled appearance next week of an anti-illegal immigration activist at a student-sponsored forum on the University of Nevada, Reno campus is causing outrage among some faculty, students and members of the community.
• Undocumented students mobilize to win legal status
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• A southwest Ohio Hispanic group has published a book it hopes will help students better understand Hispanic and other immigrant groups and curb anti-immigrant sentiment. – The Hispanic Chamber Cincinnati USA
• Hispanic students face language barrier challenges in Maryland
• FIU to develop model programs to keep Hispanics in college – Although 57% of non-Hispanic white students nationwide graduate within six years; only 46 % of Hispanics do so.