The love of a parent is immeasurable and immigrant parents are no different than any other parent. Families will do anything for their children and they often move to another country to give them better lives. My family migrated from Ecuador in 1996 while I was in fifth grade. Though the transition was rough, I found hope when my ESL teacher told me about the American Dream and the benefit of a good education.
As we prepare to celebrate Pride by marching in the SF Pride Parade as this year’s Community Organization Grand Marshal, I’m reminded of what it means to be able to walk down a public street with thousands of people watching me strut my stuff, free of shame or judgment. The feeling stands out in comparison to growing up gay and in the closet in a small town in West Texas, pretending to be “normal,” and trying to get by without being rejected for being who I am.
Today the Obama administration announced that it will stop deporting and give work permits to young adults who came to the U.S. as children, or DREAMers.
For 15 years, I’ve served as principal of Foley Elementary in Alabama, a school that has become known in our Hispanic community as “La Escuela Amistosa” or the “Friendly School.”
There are 2.1 million of us. Then, there are our parents, friends, and neighbors—courageous, hardworking undocumented Americans. Together, we are 11.2 million. We’ve met and overcome great hardship.
By Michael Tan, Staff Attorney, Immigrants' Rights Project, ACLU at 2:23pm
Adriana Sanchez, whose story was recently reported by the Associated Press, was brought from Mexico to Central California at age twelve by her parents, who are both farm workers. The family overstayed their visas. As the AP explained:
Even though Sanchez excelled in high school, she was in the country illegally, lacked a Social Security number and work permit, and didn’t qualify for financial aid. But she volunteered hundreds of hours and paid her way through college and graduate school with a dozen internships. Now 24, Sanchez graduated last week from California State University, Fresno with a master’s degree in International Relations, a full-time job [as an independent contractor] and no loans to repay.
“This,” said Assistant Attorney General Tom Perez, “is about real people with real dreams.”
Yesterday, Perez joined the Department of Education’s Assistant Secretary for Civil Rights Russlynn Ali and a distinguished panel at the ACLU’s Washington Legislative Office to commemorate the 30th Anniversary of Plyler v. Doe, the Supreme Court decision that guaranteed equal access to a public education to all children, regardless of citizenship or immigration status. In their remarks, Perez and Ali highlighted the stories of real people: the many children whose access to education—and their dreams—are being threatened as a result of Alabama’s HB 56 and other anti-immigrant state laws.
Jocelyn came to the United States when she was six years old, brought by a single mom who wanted her to go to school and have a better life than she did. Today, at age 14, Jocelyn is an honors student in Alabama, where she hopes to become the first in her family to graduate from high school, and to one day become a doctor. Jocelyn is striving to live the American Dream.
What happens to a DREAM deferred? In 2010 Senate Republicans defeated the bipartisan legislation, which offered a path to citizenship for DREAMers—promising undocumented youth headed to college or the military, most of whom were brought to the United States at very young ages through no fault of their own. But now, the same party that stamped out DREAM is attempting to bring it back—somewhat.
By Kary L. Moss, Executive Director, ACLU of Michigan at 1:21pm
Michigan is a microcosm of the nation’s current economic crisis: a shrinking job base and an education system that is failing its youth. As the presidential candidates wind through Michigan this campaign season, like they did last week for a national debate on the economy, we hope they focus on ways to ensure that more students graduate with high school diplomas. We need every eligible high school graduate to attend college and help build the American economic engine with highly skilled labor and entrepreneurial know-how.
