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A familiar question after progressive legislation fails to pass Congress is: what now?
The DREAM Act (Development, Relief and Education for Alien Minors) would have provided a path to legal citizenship to those undocumented youth who are eligible.
On December 18, the Senate voted overwhelmingly in favor of bypassing a filibuster of the DREAM Act but fell five votes short on passing the decade-old measure.
Minerva Stone saw the disappointment as an opportunity to strengthen a motivated base.
She is one of the organizers of the newly formed HOPE Coalition in Orange County. The HOPE Coalition aims to bring together different organizations for human rights.
The HOPE Coalition hosted a community meeting called “Generations of Lost DREAMS: Finding Solutions” on January 28 at Betsy Ross Elementary School in Anaheim.
The Coalition is comprised of community organizations and leaders, including Los Amigos of Orange County, Orange County Community Housing Corporation, Santa Ana LULAC (League of United Latin American Citizens) and the Orange County DREAM Team.
The goal of the meeting was to educate others about the DREAM Act in order to introduce the idea of a human rights coalition.
To be eligible for the DREAM Act, undocumented students must have entered the country when they were 15 or younger and graduated high school or obtained a GED.
In order receive a green card, the bill requires them to complete two years in the military or two years of college and there is 10-year plus waiting period. Only six years later would they be eligible to apply for citizenship.
At the Coalition meeting, Dr. Roberto Gonzales, an Assistant Professor at the University of Washington, gave a presentation about the struggles of undocumented immigrant children growing up in the United States.
He has done extensive studies in the field of undocumented youth and their trajectory into living adulthood. They receive a K-12 education but there is not a continuity after they graduate high school, he told the audience.
Undocumented students, he said, work hard to keep up with their peers and get good grades throughout their adolescent years but cannot continue to succeed in the “real” world due to their status. He said they are integrated into a legal framework and have all the normal experiences of Americans.
“These students grow up watching Barney and Power Rangers. They study in high school, date and go to prom,” he said. “They accumulate a whole host of Americanizing experiences. Each year of progressing into society, they grow closer to their American peers and further away from the realities of their parents.”
Their inability to produce paperwork when trying to get a job is a huge barrier in adulthood, according to Gonzales. He said many accomplished youth end up working in restaurants or doing manual labor during or after college. At times, it is hard to get those jobs in the first place because they are seen as overqualified.
He said the DREAM Act would help alleviate some of these issues and help undocumented individuals attain status through their hard work in college.
A few of the other highlights of the meeting included the stories of members of the OC DREAM Team, which is the main advocate group for the DREAM Act in Orange County.
Adrian Gonzalez is a 24-year-old Cal State University Northridge student majoring in Deaf Studies. He came to the United States when he was 3 years old. His parents were deported in 2008.
He talked about his struggles with finding an internship that would prepare him for his dream job. He said he is part of the Coalition to get support from the community for students like himself.
“We need not only financial support but moral support as well,” he said.
19-year-old Jamie Kim is a Fullerton College student majoring in International Relations. Her parents came to the U.S. from South Korea when she was a child. She said she worked very hard to succeed in middle and high school so when it came time to go to college, she was not able to go to a university like her friends did.
However, the DREAM Act activists she has come across, including those with the HOPE Coalition, motivate her to push on.
“I have never seen a group of such passionate and outspoken people,” she said. “You can just see the passion in their eyes and I could not help but to join them.”
Kim wants to go into the Air Force and eventually work with the United Nations on the behalf of the United States.
“I just want to give back to the country that has given so much to me,” she told the audience.
After the meeting, Stone said the DREAM Act is a gateway to having a conversation with the community about human rights.
The HOPE Coalition will try to tackle myriad of other issues including homelessness, unemployment and affordable housing.
“We want to create a neutral space for reform aside from heated and ego driven discussions about politics,” Stone said. “Our hope is to rebuild some of the burned bridges within the different movements of our community.”
Stone said there is a need in Orange County to network with different organizations, community members and leaders to work under a common platform for change.
“Everything is fragmented because each advocate group is working for their own cause,” she said. “We want to meet in the middle with those who are in support of human, immigrant and civil rights as a way to outreach to the residents of Orange County.”
Video of some of the speakers including prominent OC DREAM Act advocate Antonia Rivera and Dr. Jose Moreno, a Cal State Long Beach Latino Studies Professor, can be viewed below:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cSVS1uExL9E
when will you people ever get it . please tell me what is immigrant rights . and tell me YOUR VERSION of what is the difference between IMMIGRANT RIGHTS and ILLEGAL IMMIGRANT RIGHTS .. im dying to hear the anwser .
Ah, I knew this post would draw the GRATE One out of the woodworks.
Well, good luck with the dream. The problem is that it is viewed as an amnesty, that undeserving people will gain citizenship through fraudulent papers. I know, these people would not commit fraud but yet there is a perception they would do things like fake social security numbers and licenses. Yes, that’s bull, no immigrants do such things. But due to the perception that there would be fraud, that millions more would come here to commit that fraud, that it would lead to chain migration and citizenship and speed us to a third world country status perhaps it would be easier to go home to your own country where you were born and just apply for citizenship.
DWM, I can tell you’re being at least half sarcastic here, but maybe getting a little ambivalent?
As far as your final suggestion, many of these students have been here since they were toddlers or such, don’t speak the Spanish or Korean or Russian of their birth country, don’t have a home there. And they’ve been model citizens their whole lives here (or else they wouldn’t qualify.) Think about it, before just being a bastard.
By the way, the qualifications for the NIGHTMARE Act (oops, the Dream Act) would land you in prison in Mexico if undertaken by an American.
So what? (Even if that’s true?) We measure ourselves by other dipshit nations? That reminds me of “Sure we tortured at Abu Ghraib, but at least we’re not as bad as Saddam Hussein.” America does what Americans think is right.
No, the point is that we are already the most accommodating countries in the world when it comes to immigration – virtually all other countries, including Northern European, are far harsher with both legal and illegal immigration. The DREAM act would do nothing more that reward those that break the law undetected.
Why is the OC Dream Team excluded from this?
Dunno, but Amber will be on soon to answer ALL your burning questions! Let’s welcome her to the OJ Team.
If you read above, the fifth paragraph, the Orange County DREAM Team is among the groups involved in the Coalition.
yes o verno nothing brings me out like ILLEGAL IMMIGRATION ISSUES . still waiting if some hispanic activist can anwser my question ?
Well, Grate One, I’m pretty sure we’ve answered your question elsewhere – “What is the difference between the rights of legal vs. illegal immigrants?” That’s your question?
For one thing, most of the rights enumerated in the Bill of Rights – particularly the First and Fourth Amendments – apply to all “persons” in the United States – that’s whether you’re documented or not.
Of course there are other rights that are reserved for citizens, such as voting or holding office.
California and many other states, through legislation, give undocumented immigrants a right to K-12 education, and medical care. (I’m winging it here, someone correct me)
And we’re not exactly talking about rights here anyway. We are discussing reforming our immigration policy, to make it more humane, and get some of these most excellent overachieving young immigrants as taxpaying citizens.
I’m not sure how else to answer your silly question.
“For one thing, most of the rights enumerated in the Bill of Rights – particularly the First and Fourth Amendments – apply to all “persons” in the United States – that’s whether you’re documented or not.”……. Hmmm
But not to Nelson, Gilbert an the Orange Juice!
Stanilav Star
Are you lecturing me on the Bill of Rights?
I’ve spent more hours and traveled more miles on my own dime than yourself fighting to protect the rights of Americans.
The good news is that with a few reasonable restrictions we respect your First Amendment right to comment on this blog without giving us your true name.
Gilbert, you are very dangerous christian moralist and moron mongoloid.
You are right there with Jihadists.
Same as Nelson you have no clue what America is all about.
You have inherited America same as you did this blog and now you do not know what to do with it.
It would be a progress if you both shut-up about any Bill of any Rights, idiots.
@Vern:
It is NOT ONLY the law of California and other states that guarantees a K-12 education & guarantee of EMERGENCY and child Medical services as a matter of proper Health policy, but this is something guaranteed in rulings by the US SUPREME COURT.
Also our immigration system is BROKEN and is not working even when you have MIXED LEGAL status. For example, if I recall correctly one of the presenters mentioned that she waited about 10 years in order for her to have legal status, and the rest of the time she was here undocumented even though her father was Legal.
Our society is already making educational investments in these youth :
e.g. K-12, and
some states are allowing them to attend college e.g. CA’s AB-540
and America could reap significant benefits by adjusting status for many of these qualified students who would qualify for this by serving at least 2 years of MILITARY service, or attending college.
It is known that college educated people earn more and pay more in taxes, and have a net positive impact to society….so in a way they would be strengthening America financially, and also through Military service…many of these DREAM Act students also live in MIXED status households where one of their sibling is US born or with a legal parent.
If their sibling is a US Citizen, a US Citizen has to wait until they are 21 YEARS old BEFORE they can apply for Legalization of their siblings or their parent(s). And after that you have a 5-10 year wait for this to be finalized.
Furthermore, because of the coming wave of 75-80 million baby boomers retiring we will need to replace these people with younger workers, especially as we have a significant UNFUNDED liability for retirement several times over the annual US GDP.
Francisco “Paco” Barragan
my opinions only and not those of any group
GREAT first post Amber!!!
Right on AMBER! Welcome! Don’t mind some of the quaint residents who scorn immigrants in the name of upholding their precious freedom-loving home of the brave. This country is years behind the times when it comes to recognizing human rights, preserving and coexisting with our natural ecosystem, or observing civil discourse. Orange county is a microcosm of America. Let’s make it better!
Most ridiculous post EVER “Other.” “years behind the times”? Really? behind who? Name another country in the world that has welcomed immigrants as freely and openly as the United States. Name another country in the world today that is as tolerant and gentle to ILLEGAL immigrants as the United States is today.
We all want to make things better – for some of us that means following the law – others evidently think that they are special and that the laws of this great country don’t apply to them.
If you do a serious historical analysis of immigration and racism in the United States you could not say those words with a straight face.
I earned my degree from a pretty decent college studying just that and I am speaking with a pretty straight face. Again, show me a modern country that has and continues to handle immigration issues better than the United States.
Again, I don’t want to look around the globe to compare us to some other country whether they do something better or worse. I’d like to see what we could do better. And if what we’re doing is so perfect, Geoff, then why do we have so many millions of people living and working in the shadows, people we don’t know who they are, some of whom could be dangerous, most of whom are being exploited to a degree. I know you’ll say “more enforcement,” but we’ve tried that, we’ve been trying it even more, and it just doesn’t work. Doesn’t keep up with our economic needs and our demographic reality.
And then there are the DREAM kids. I’ll bet good Mission Viejo money you still haven’t read the article you’re commenting on. Read it.
Vern – I have read the story and have been around those living it to one degree or another all of my life. “More enforcement” hasn’t worked because of the uneasy, unspoken coalition between businesses who take advantage of this illegal and cheap source of labor and the immigration groups that fight against existing laws. I am neither racist nor hard hearted, I just think that the law is the law and the DREAM act does nothing but promote law breaking. A tear does not run down my cheek when hearing a story of someone here illegally being denied an equal shot at college with those that have been here legally. Follow the law, its not that hard.
I just realized you don’t know what the DREAM Act is. You wrote “a tear does not run down my cheek when hearing a story of someone here illegally being denied an equal shot at college with those that have been here legally.”
Damn. Back to basics. These kids are ALREADY in college and doing well. They just want a pathway to LEGALIZATION and CITIZENSHIP. No wonder we’re getting nowhere with this discussion.
Sounds wonderful. And how exactly would Jamie Kim or Adrian Gonzalez, in the story above, go about “following the law?”
Vern, this is the problem with the debate, every time we start arguing broad policy the argument is redirected to specific cases. I am not an immigration law expert and have no idea how to fix the problems of these two individuals. Unfortunately their law breaking parents put them in a difficult situation.
I think it’s more important to make sure you realize what we’re talking about. (Don’t understand how these comments get posted in the order they’re posted.) See my 2:30 post. I think we’ve really not been on the same page with knowing what the DREAM Act does. Nobody is asking for any freebies.
Really GW? You earned a degree in “Immigration and Racism?”
The Center for Global Development released a Commitment to Development Index for 2010 which, for Migration, showed that other countries statistically excelled in that regard in comparison to the United States.
Sorry, but American exceptionalism is not a given.
You can read the criteria and take a look at the Index yourself.
http://www.cgdev.org/content/publications/detail/1424561/
OMG. Lets just deport you instead…Please!
G.W great post man . following the law is something these people have a hard time understanding, they want to cut in line ahead of everyone else . – aka nightmare act , and wanting amensty = no se puede
@ Amber:
Thank you for this post…and for attending this presentation on a Friday evening!!!
And Welcome to the OJ Blog
Thanks Francisco! It was a pleasure meeting you.
Let me apologize for all our knuckle-draggers. And also Geoff Willis, who’s not quite one, but apparently misinformed. I’ve deleted some of the more offensive comments. We got some real anti-immigrants here! But it’s a rough-and-tumble blog.
It’s a hot topic so it comes with the territory. This won’t be my only piece about the issue, so, stay tuned everyone 🙂
Thanks for keeping me out of the knuckle-dragger class. Obviously we can debate who is well informed and who is not (and yes, I misread the post at first in a completely non-material way).
I know I/we keep saying this, but most of the comments critical of the post are NOT anti-immigration but instead critical of giving any rights and benefits to those breaking the law. This has nothing to do with race or country of origin since I would feel exactly the same whether the law breaker was from Canada, Indonesia or Mexico.
It is anti-illegal immigration mostly from South of the border and it is because and only because we do NOT WANT to pay for another countries poor, uneducated and unskilled!
I have been receiving e-mails all week for some pro-illegal Alien group and have did the opposite of what they wanted me today. Today they told me to call my senator about the e.verify, I called the Senator and demanded they make it mandatory!
It really is all bunch of nonsense, we need to do what ever we can to stop people from hiring cheap labor from third world countries. A lot of lads are out of work in the construction industry because the scumbags hire illegal aliens and pay them under the table!
Its bad obviously for this country and bad for the economy!
Next time Amber you have a meeting with your pro-illegal immigrant poesy, I would like to attend and ask the obvious questions that all would like an answer too. Ie…. Why, would I pay for child from a foreign country to go to college while I and many others are trying to save hard to send our own kids to college… Why, are we responsible for Mexico’s people?
So many question’s, that you most likely would avoid like a bad hair day!
Michelle,
WTF is a poesy?
Can’t answer the question’s Amber?
Thought not!
As Vern said above, the DREAM Act is not about paying undocumented immigrants to go to college. If anything, it would allow them access to debt. I hope that answers your questions. If not, then I suggest reading the text of the DREAM Act, it can be found here: http://www.opencongress.org/bill/111-s3992/text
Otherwise, you are right, I cannot your questions – but reading the bill just might.
Don’t act stupid love, you know what I am asking you, see 7.57 pm comment and answer the questions!
Welcome to the real world, and not your LA RAZA’s interpretation!
Feel free to e-mail me anytime, Michelle.
amber.stephens@gmail.com
I will keep your email handy.
Answer the question’s!
Michelle, you retard, nobody is paying for them to go to college, and they are not asking anyone to pay for them to go to college.
I am sure that won’t get through your potato head though.
michell im sure you wont need help you can hold your own but make sure they dont use the word immigrants to describe ILLEGAL IMMIGRANTS . its part of their playbook .. also we just want to work here and feed our familes = so do 60 other million folks
“We are very excited to announce our first annual AB 540 scholarship in support of a prospective or current law student. The purpose of La Raza Law Students Association (LRLSA) is to promote and support Latina/o legal education, to advocate for the legal needs and interests of the Latina/o community, and to encourage participation, leadership and community service amongst Latina/os and other students for the attainment of equal opportunity in education. Because these principles fall in line with the letter and spirit of LRLSA’s commitment to social justice and community service, the association will pledge to support AB 540 students by providing financial support in the form of a scholarship of $1,000 so long as this disparity continues.
Attached you will find the application along with instructions, the deadline is April 2, 2010. Please direct any questions to larazalawscholarship@gmail.com.
Best regards,
La Raza Law Students Association
UC Davis School of Law- King Hall”
MQ says:
Yeah ok Vern!
first of all we a paying to educate the LA RAZA (the race) to become lawyers so they can f*** you as an American Citizen over by using the Law. Which at this stage are so infiltrated with left wing Americans, the court has actually become a battle field against left wing activists and the American Citizen!
The truth is this is a state law that gives YOUR money to illegal immigrants for college in the forms of scholarships and what ever bull they can come up with. So while the next time you pay your taxes know that 1,000 went to so little RAZA to screw up with your own laws….Quite brilliant actually, that RAZA or really culture have the hole corrupt thing down..best yet your own are helping them!
No, they people like Amber and the rest of her poesy!
Informal (of a place) for, characteristic of, or full of posers; affectedly trendy
It’s an Irish thing: posers!
The scholarships are not tax payer funded. Thanks for the info though! I’ll be sure to tell my poesy.
It’s, actually poser’s! Not learnt in Chicano studies!
Actually what you were trying to say Michelle was “posse.” Now that you’ve discovered “poser” or “poseur” you could maybe start talking about a “posse of poseurs.” Although your butchered English does have a certain perverse poesy to it.
No, Vern its poser’s as in poesy!
Posse is just a group of people, poesy is posers or trendy!
So, I did know what I was saying….maybe I should have said a bunch of poesy, but I don’t think you can term it that way… YOU can also say “you and your mates are a right poesy”.
Apples and pairs = up the stairs
bees and honey = lots of money
Stall the ball= hold on a little
Fella fell of the lorry = guy fell of the truck!
“does have a certain perverse poesy to it.”
MQ says:
That does not make sense?
The ONLY correct meaning of “poesy” is “the work or art of poetic composition.”
Spend more time reading, and less time sounding off on things you don’t know. Also, try to read some things that don’t just re-inforce your existing prejudices.
Vern – OUT.
With this one I think you need to spend more time reading: Mostly poesy means a bouquet of flower’s. But it is also used to mean poser, trendy!
World English Dictionary
posey or poserish (ˈpəʊzɪ, ˈpəʊzərɪʃ)
— adj
informal (of a place) for, characteristic of, or full of posers; affectedly trendy
poserish or poserish
Who know’s the ENGLISH language?
Yeah, and THAT’S what you meant when you said “You and your poesy get together…” Just give up.
(And even the flower arrangement is spelt different: POSEY.)
At least you gave young Amber some chuckles. Accidentally.
NOT TAX PAYER FUNDED! Who the heck do you think is paying for the SB540?
This is common sense interferes with excellent writing skills!
Good night Amber!
Well, Geoff, it’s nice that you and I can remain civil, but these are really not “immaterial misreadings” if you’re going to jump in from the start calling something the “nightmare act.”
– These kids aren’t asking for any free, or discounted education.
– They ARE asking for a reasonable path to legality and citizenship.
– And they HAVE proved themselves as overachievers who will contribute greatly to our country.
And as far as Michelle Quinn and the Great One, I think anyone else who has been reading their comments for years would agree that I accurately characterize them as anti-Mexican. (Calling them “anti-immigrant” I’m actually using a kind euphemism.) At least Dead White Male seems to have been hearing the arguments for the DREAM Act and softening up a bit. Remember, this thing was originally written and proposed by Republicans as well as Democrats (Orrin Hatch, Dick Lugar.) It is not radical or amnesty, and costs nothing.
Yeah, ok Vern,
Please anyone who remotely thinks giving Foregin nationalist any sort of aid over their own are down right fools. If you had the luck to be educated here, go home, apply for a green card and come back and work!
This state is BROKE, it cannot afford to aid illegal immigrants. Plus is it not against federal law to aid illegal Aliens? You seem to live in an opposite world?
My guess is the Con Act is dead and so it should be.
And you say that I am anti-mexican, well maybe I am anti-racism and don’t like muts, putting down MY ancestors! Maybe, I am just giving it back as much as idiots like NAUI the nazi give it out!
I am anti-idiot, anti-welfare, anti-moron, and above all anti-ethnocentric!
And of course anti-liberal!
im with you michell i think pedroza has rubbed off on vern i am not anti mexican i am not anti immigrant i am ANTI ILLEGAL IMMIGRANT . their is a huge difference that the left is always trying to put the two together . . its the old argument we had with pedroza if your against illegal immigration you must be anti mexican anti hispanic ,. no follow the freaking law . enforce the law . you dont get ot cut in line and we cant bring in the poor of mexico over here . we are broke .