Immigrant rights advocates bring protest, Aztec dance, prayer to free detainee in El Paso

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El Paso – Alexi Cruz may not have realized he had friends in this border community until he was on the verge of being deported. Cruz, 24, an undocumented immigrant from Mexico who has lived in the U.S. since he was 14 years old, was detained in early November by Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) after his car broke down on the way to Arizona. He was on his way from his home in San Antonio to see his mother in Arizona because authorities had apprehended his sister. His wife, Anayanse Garza, said that Cruz sought help after his car broke down in New Mexico near the Arizona border and was questioned by law enforcement officers about his residential status. The Border Patrol was called to pick him up.

José Antonio Vargas, el indocumentado más privilegiado

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CHICAGO — José Antonio Vargas ha pasado la mayor parte de su vida escondido detrás de un secreto: Vivir indocumentado en los Estados Unidos. Cerca de 12 millones de personas en los EEUU comparten tal secreto bajo el miedo de la deportación. Pero Vargas, quien salió del clóset de los papeles falsos cuando publicó “Mi vida como un inmigrante indocumentado” en la revista del periódico New York Times del 22 de junio del 2011, continúa en este país sin haber seguido la suerte de los más de dos millones que han sido deportados, sólo durante el gobierno de Obama, por no tener documentos legales. Posteriormente, en junio del 2012, Vargas apareció en la portada de la revista Time, junto con otros 30 indocumentados bajo el titular: “Somos americanos, sólo no legalmente”. “Documentado” es la película que Vargas ha escrito, producido y dirigido que cubre la experiencia de su vida sin documentos desde que llegara a California de su natal Filipinas el 3 de agosto de 1993, cuando tenía 12 años.

Diego Luna, a Mexican actor and director of the new film, “Cesar Chavez,” speaks about his support for DREAMers and says how they are part of American history. (Alejandro Alba/SHFWire)

New program to give more than 2,000 college scholarships to DREAMers

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WASHINGTON – A new program will allow thousands of young immigrants to go to college without having to worry about money. Donald Graham introduced TheDream.US, a new scholarship fund, at a press conference Tuesday. It will give full-ride scholarships to more than 2,000 DREAMers over the next decade. “It will be terrible for them and for our country if we don’t help them,” Graham said. “There is no telling what many of them will achieve in their lives.”

Young people described as DREAMers are those brought to the United States when they were  children.

Ethnic, political leaders denounce King

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WASHINGTON — Reaction by leaders of both the Republican and Democratic parties, as well as Hispanic and civil rights organizations, has been swift, strident and steady this week in answer to anti-Hispanic comments made by U.S. Rep. Steve King of Iowa. Responding to DREAMer supporters’ contentions that the contributions and potential of tens of thousands of undocumented Latino youths are undervalued, the six term Republican Congressman told the conservative Website Newsmax July 18 that for every “illegal immigrant” who becomes a valedictorian, “there’s another 100 out there that weigh 130 pounds and have calves s the size of cantaloupes because they’re hauling 75 pounds of marijuana across the desert.”

Fellow Republican Raúl Labrador of Idaho quickly characterized King’s comments as “irresponsible and reprehensible,” adding, “I hope that if he thought about it, he wouldn’t say such a thing again.”

But he already has. Since then, King has elaborated in a July 23 Radio Iowa interview with O. Kay Henderson , “It’s not something that I’m making up. This is real. We have people that are drug mules…You can tell by their physical characteristics what they’re doing for months, going through the desert with 75 pounds of drugs on their back.”

“What he said is wrong.

Simon Jun, an undocumented student and DREAM rider, speaks publicly for the first time about his situation. He says that Congress needs to pass immigration reform for the families living in the shadows. (Rob Denton/SHFWire)

DREAMers go on summer road trip for immigration reform

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WASHINGTON – Steps away from the Capitol, DREAM rider Simon Jun spoke publically for the first time Wednesday about being an undocumented student in the U.S.

“Growing up, I understood what it meant to be undocumented,” he said. “Don’t break any laws, no matter how trivial they may seem. Never tell or hint to another individual that you are undocumented.”

Standing next to fellow DREAM riders, Asian-American advocacy groups and members of Congress, Jun called on lawmakers to pass comprehensive immigration reform. He said he is thankful to have received approval to stay in the U.S. under the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals, which grants temporary residency to young adults brought to the country as children. But he said the larger issue needs a permanent fix.

"Stand with families" was the clamor of students members of United We Dream. (Luis Hernandez/Borderzine.com)

DREAMers march on Capitol Hill to put a human face on the struggle for immigration reform

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WASHINGTON – A group of college students dressed in blue graduation gowns sit in a gallery during a U.S. Senate hearing, their eyes fixed on the Senate floor, watching attentively as a steady stream of yay votes are tallied and read out loud by the clerk. They’re not the usual student visitors on a school-sanctioned field trip to the Capitol – they’re DREAMers and the vote they are witnessing will ultimately decide the legality of their residency in this country. The Senate Bill 744: Border Security, Economic Opportunity, and Immigration Modernization Act more commonly known as the Immigration bill, passed its first hurdle June 11 on an 82-15 vote, with 54 Democrats and 28 Republicans voting to move the bill to the floor. With congressmen all around Washington voicing their opinions to anyone who would listen, the DREAMers sought to place a human face on immigration and let them know the repercussions of their rhetoric. The students are members of United We Dream (UWD), a nonpartisan network made up of 52 affiliate organizations in 25 states, and one of the largest immigrant youth-led organizations in the nation.

Citizenship main topic at first immigration hearing

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WASHINGTON – A pathway to citizenship was the main topic of discussion Tuesday at a House hearing, the first to take place since proposals for immigration reform were introduced in the new Congress. San Antonio Mayor Julian Castro pushed for citizenship for undocumented immigrants currently in the United States. “I believe that is the best way and it is in our nation’s best interest,” Castro said. “We’re a nation of immigrants. We’ve progressed because we are pragmatic.

Families made a good part of the participants in the march for immigration reform. (Justin Monarez/Borderzine.com)

Rival immigration reform plans could ignite Capitol Hill fireworks

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By Basilisa Alonso

The comprehensive immigration reform proposal spread out Jan. 29 in Las Vegas by President Obama could eventually put as many as 11 million undocumented immigrants, about 80 percent of whom are Hispanic, on a path to U.S. citizenship. It is could also light up the sky with an awesome display of political fireworks by the Fourth of July. While Obama’s 25-minute televised speech was seen and heard by millions and then regurgitated and analyzed for days by print as well as broadcast  media, its message was clearly directed to those 535 members of Congress who must sign off before it reaches his desk for signature. The stakes — the President’s reputation, the future viability of the Republican Party and the welfare of the Hispanic community — are enormous.

Josue Aguilar/Danny Boy is a “Dreamer” and a vlog sensation

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By Valori K. Corral-Nava

His college classmates would never guess that Josue Daniel Aguilar’s quirky Internet alias is Danny Boy and his comedy routine has been featured on “Hoy!,” Mexico’s national television version of the Today Show. Fame comes from his vlog page called Jaguer-U where Aguilar, a UTEP Digital Media major, has posted over 120 quirky comic Spanish language videos that have attracted an estimated 11 million views on Youtube.  He’s also had some measure of financial success as funds flow in daily from product placement ads in his videos. The self-made Internet sensation is living the American dream that any young ambitious 20-year-old would want but with a caveat. Until last November, when the U.S. government approved his application for Deferred Status from deportation, he was living in this country illegally.

(©Raymundo Aguirre)

Anchor babies and Dream Acts

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Teaching and Learning and Caring Blog

EL PASO – On June 15, 2012, more than a year after President Obama’s visit to El Paso, he announced that his administration would no longer take administrative action against young people who were brought here as children and who have no criminal record.  These are the same people (an estimated 800,000) that would qualify for the Dream Act, if it ever passed.  Moreover, these kids would be allowed to apply for work permits. Finally, it is a step in the right direction.  But, and it is a rather large one, there has to be enough trust that the administrative action would not be overturned, and people would not be deported once they had come forward and self-identified. The following blog by Cheryl Howard originally appeared in Bean Juice Dispatches, an on-line publication created by former UTEP students, Raymundo Aguirre and John Del Rosario. EL PASO, May 13, 2011 – Anchors keep us centered in bad weather, keep us from drifting away with the current or the wind. Dreams are not anchors; they are the wisps of wind or the current itself.  Dreams are unfettered by reality.

Juan Velasquez, 24, came to the U.S. when he was 14 years old and recently graduated from Georgetown University. He, along with fellow members of LCLAA, will participate in the Selma to Montgomery March this week. (Salvador Guerrero/SHFWire)

Latino group joins re-enactment of Selma to Montgomery March

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WASHINGTON – Thousands of people gather in Alabama each year to re-enact the Selma to Montgomery March that took place 47 years ago. This year protesters will have not just a memory but a new cause as they march across the Edmund Pettis Bridge. Representatives from the Labor Council for Latin American Advancement, Hispanic Federation, League of United Latin American Citizens and the National Council of La Raza held a rally here Wednesday to announce they would join the re-enactment of the civil rights march. They left after the rally for the 14-hour bus ride to Selma, Ala., to take part in the final two days of the Selma to Montgomery March re-enactment that started Sunday. The 1965 march for voting rights ended in violence when peaceful protesters were attacked by local law enforcement using tear gas and clubs.

Joselyn after obtaining her master's in mass communications from CSUN. (Photo courtesy of Joselyn Arroyo)

The road toward citizenship: The plight of the undocumented

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College graduate recalls the hardships she endured while obtaining a bachelor’s and a master’s degree as an AB 540 student

She has vague memories of the day her parents packed up and brought her and her sister to the U.S. One of them is her arriving at an “airport” though in reality she’d arrived to Sun Valley after crossing the border illegally at the age of three. Growing up, Joselyn Arroyo, 29, would accompany her mother, a janitor at the time, to the KNBC studios in Burbank. She remembers watching the broadcasters and deciding then that it was what she wanted to do when she grew up, oblivious to the hardships she’d face living in the U.S as an undocumented resident. Born Joselyn Ontiveros in San Luis Potosi, Mexico on April 26, 1982, she stands at about 5 feet 5 inches with medium length black hair, tan skin and an athletic build and has always considered herself a citizen of the U.S. despite her illegal status. “I knew I was from Mexico but I didn’t know the logistics of not being and being a citizen,” says Joselyn.

President Barack Obama speaks at the Congressional Hispanic Caucus Institute’s Award Gala on Wednesday. He focused on issues important to the Hispanic community, such as job creation and immigration. (Danya P Hernandez/SHFWire)

Obama tells Hispanic audience he will fight for their issues

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WASHINGTON – Hundreds of spectators cheered and applauded as President Barack Obama promised to work to pass the Dream Act, which would allow some young immigrants to become U.S. citizens. “I will do everything in my power to make the Dream Act a reality,” he said. Obama and first lady Michelle Obama attended the Congressional Hispanic Caucus Institute’s 34th Annual Awards Gala on Wednesday to kick off his administration’s Hispanic Heritage Month celebration. “I don’t have to tell you these are tough times. You know how hard this recession has hit families, especially Latino families,” Obama said.

Standing on the borderline, Obama embraces immigration reform

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EL PASO — President Barrack Obama embarked on a trip to Texas on Tuesday and paid a visit to El Paso to renew his push for immigration reform reminding us that America was built by immigrants and that we should welcome those who are willing to embrace our ideals. “It doesn’t matter where you come from. What matters is that you believe the ideals on which we were founded, that you believe all of us are equal,” said Obama. “In embracing America, you can become American. That is what makes this country so great.”

Immigration reform has been a long hot-button issue for both Democrats and Republicans and with the 2012 elections heating up, both parties are taking advantage of bringing the topic up to Congress and citizens all over the country.  In his speech, Obama mentioned that there are 11 million people who are in the United States illegally and although he has sympathy for them stating that they are just trying to earn a living, what it comes down to is that they are breaking the law.

A Dream worth 30 days of hunger

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WASHINGTON – Lucina Martinez usually stands a little over 5 feet, but fasting for 30 days had her in a wheelchair as she rushed from office to office through the Senate office buildings this week. Martinez hoped her hunger strike would draw attention to the need of illegal immigrant youths like herself for the Development, Relief, and Education for Alien Minors Act of 2010. Martinez broke the fast Thursday after the Senate version of the bill was tabled. The Senate may take up the House version of the bill next week. “We saw it as a victory to have more time to pressure the senators, to speak to them about our stories and why they should support the dream act,” Martinez said.

Immigrant high school graduates seek a pathway to U.S. citizenship

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EL PASO, Texas — Many of the 65,000 illegal immigrants who graduate from high school in the U.S. every year live under the entrapment radar, risking deportation at any time as they attempt to attend college or serve in the U.S. military services. According to statistics from the League of United Latin American Citizens (LULAC), most of these students in all grade levels have been raised in America, in American public school systems, American cities. Many only speak English and the American culture is what they know.  They have little left of their culture of origin. “It’s a very sad experience to forget where you came from because you’re accustomed to life here.  You could hardly remember that you came here from another country,” said a student who wishes to remain anonymous.  The student at the University of Texas at El Paso (UTEP) is an illegal immigrant because, like the thousands of illegal high school students who graduate every year in the U.S., this student was not brought to America by choice.  The parents made that choice. “It’s a difficult situation.

Immigration: A love story

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CHICAGO — “Up, up with education! Down, down with deportation!” chanted a crowd of 30 or so Latin American youths holding hand-painted signs advocating the Development, Relief and Education of Alien Minors (DREAM) Act, which would grant “restricted” residency to children of immigrants who pursued a higher education or military service. I watched as students took turns telling their grueling Cinderella stories, each one starting with, “My name is Juan or Maria and I’m undocumented and unafraid,” then stumbling over words, pausing to apologize for being nervous, and continuing to spill forth their love for America. At the end of the rally they ended with the same chant, but the girl with the mic mixed up the words and instead said, “Up, up with deportation! Down, down with edu… I mean, no, up, up with education.” In effect, it just showed how much they really do need a way into college.

La trajeron de pequeña y ahora es difícil poder estudiar

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CHICAGO — Cristina no puede continuar con su educación. Sus padres decidieron emigrar ilegalmente a los Estados Unidos cuando ella solamente tenía tres años. Completar una carrera universitaria siendo indocumentada es muy difícil, ya que el costo de las universidades en los Estados Unidos es muy alto. Además, al no contar con un número de seguro social, ella no puede solicitar becas o préstamos estudiantiles. Cristina, de 21 años, nacida en Jerez, Zacatecas, (no quiso ser identificada con su apellido), asiste a una universidad pero sólo toma clases generales porque aún no está segura cuál carrera le gustaría estudiar, y admite que pagar por la universidad ha sido una barrera.“Mi papá y yo somos los que estamos pagando de nuestra bolsa”.

Luchando por un sueño

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CHICAGO — Los estudiantes indocumentados en los Estados Unidos actualmente están atrapados en una paradoja legal, aseveró Roberto González, actor del reporte Young Lives on Hold: The College Dreams of Undocumented Students, publicado en abril del 2009. Edgar Chávez, estudiante de 21 años de la Universidad de Illinois Chicago (UIC), quiere que la pesadilla en la que esta viviendo termine de una vez pues tiene miedo de que su mayor sueño, que es terminar su carrera, sea afectado por su situación migratoria. Chávez tenía 12 años cuando llegó a Chicago con su madre y hermano; su padre ya llevaba dos años en los Estados Unidos trabajando para poder ofrecerles mejores condiciones de vida. Nacido en Monterrey, México, Chávez contó que su traslado a este país fue sencillo. Edgar Chávez y su familia cruzaron el borde fronterizo en la camioneta de su tía, quien es ciudadana estadounidense y reside en Texas.

La Ley del Sueño, esperanza para los estudiantes indocumentados

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Traducido por Kelly Hinkle

Read this story in English

JOHNSON CITY, Tenn. — Irene Castellón, 19, es una joven inteligente y bella que estudia español en East Tennessee State University. Ella espera usar su licenciatura en español para ayudar a los latinos a tener una vida mejor. Pero hace un año, la universidad no era una opción para ella por su estatus migratorio. Actualmente, los inmigrantes indocumentados en los EE.UU.

DREAM Act: Hope for Undocumented Students

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Lea esta historia en español

JOHNSON CITY, Tenn. — Irene Castellon, 19, is a bright, beautiful young woman studying Spanish at East Tennessee State University. She hopes to use her Spanish degree to help Latino Americans make a better life for themselves. Yet a year ago, college wasn’t an option for her because of her immigration status. Currently, undocumented immigrants in the U.S. cannot receive financial aid for college.