FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Media Contacts: Juan (407) 602-8675, Flavia de la Fuente (949) 910-6362 media@thedreamiscoming.com
DETAINED in Arizona: Four Student Immigrant Leaders
Peacefully Resist Current Immigration Law, Urge Passage of DREAM Act
As of 6:00 PM PST today, Mohammad, Yahaira, Lizbeth and Raul, an Arizona Resident, have been arrested and detained after their day long sit-in at Senator John McCains Office in Tucson, AZ. Tania, who was not detained, has been designated as spokesperson and will be relating the experiences/thoughts of the group during the action.
Senator John McCain offered the students a meeting in order to discuss the Dream Act, however, the students recognize that this is insufficient and that immediate action is needed to pass the DREAM Act!
Tucson, Arizona. May 17th, on the anniversary of landmark civil rights case Brown v. Board of Education, Arizona law enforcement arrested four undocumented leaders of the immigrant student movement in addition to Arizona native Raul Alcaraz. Lizbeth Mateo of Los Angeles, California; Tania Unzueta of Chicago, Illinois; Mohammad Abdollahi of Ann Arbor, Michigan; and Yahaira Carrillo of Kansas City, Missouri; were detained Tucson, Arizona, after staging a sit-in at Senator John McCain’s office. With this challenge to local and federal law, these youth hope to highlight the urgency of legislative action in Congress, and catalyze mass grassroots mobilization to pass the DREAM Act before June 15th.
These four leaders are risking deportation from the United States in the hope that this action will make a significant contribution to the fight for immigrant rights. In response to the onslaught of enforcement-based immigration law, they staged a sit-in at Senator McCain’s office, and urged congressional leadership to champion the DREAM Act and the values it represents: hard work, education, and fairness.
Lizbeth, 25, an organizer with DREAM Team Los Angeles, states, “There are already ten other states across the country considering immigration legislation similar to Arizona’s: legislation that is anti-family, anti-democratic, and anti-freedom. Police states and enforcement are quickly becoming the standard, and we are running out of time. We are going to pass the DREAM Act because it is based on freedom and equality.â€
Mohammad, 24, co-founder of DreamActivist.Org, a resource web portal for undocumented students, said in a statement: “Never in our history has it been American to deny people their civil rights. We have decided to peacefully resist to encourage our leaders to pass the DREAM Act and create a new standard for immigration reform based on education, hard work, equality, and fairness.â€
At least 65,000 undocumented immigrant youth graduate from high schools every year, and many of them struggle to attend institutes of higher education and the military. The DREAM Act will grant youth who traveled to the United States before the age of 16 a path to citizenship contingent on continuous presence in the country, good behavior, and the attainment of at least a two-year university degree or a two-year commitment to the armed forces.
“During the civil rights movement, African-American students were arrested for sitting down at lunch counters. We’ve been detained for standing on a sidewalk. We can’t wait any longer for the DREAM Act to pass,†said Tania, 26, co-founder of the Immigrant Youth Justice League, and immigrant rights organizer in Chicago.
All four are leaders in their own communities and have dedicated years to work for immigrant rights, legalization for undocumented immigrants, and the DREAM Act. “Dr. King spoke of a dream of equality overcoming fear. Well, the fierce urgency of our dreams has overcome any kind of fear we may have had before. We can’t wait,†concluded Yahaira, 25, a founder of the Kansas Missouri Dream Alliance.
National Press Conference
Tuesday May 18th
9 AM Pacific, 11 PM Central, Noon EST
In front of Senator John McCain’s office:
407 West Congress Street
Tucson, AZ 85701
The whole movement applauds your bravery! Thank you for your courage and your leadership! Let's pass the DREAM Act NOW!
Thank you! Lets stand with our friends!
Open Lettter To Mohammad Abdollahi
It’s difficult for me to see the pictures and images of what happened on Wednesday the 17th , 2010.
I guess you all reached a point of no return. Hearing so many DREAM Act stories makes me understand the depth of your desperation.
Your life and of all the dreamers has been put on hold for so many years that I think you only saw this option available to you. You sat down in a peaceful protest with your friends in front of powerful Senator John McCain's office and you are willing to risk to be deported, all world to witness, because the government of the place you grew up does not let you live freely, when freedom seems to be all around you.
I suppose you all knew I will not approve of this action. We are afraid for your safety (the safety of all dreamers) and afraid that you actually are going to be deported to a place that can mean a death sentence for you. This after being arrested, handcuffed and possibly mistreated. If I do not approve of your action it is not because I’m not proud of you but because I really care about you.
Of all places you chose Arizona to shout your pain to the world. Maybe you did this because Arizona is a dry and often inhospitable place, where people call children, teenagers, and young adults in your situation “illegals” more often than not. Maybe you came to his place because you feel that more immigrants are being criminalized even when are role model human beings, just like you.
Maybe you chose to come here because many people in this place are incapable of imagining what is like to be brought to a country swaddled in desperation and grow up in the shadows of society and, in spite of all, grow up to be a remarkable human being and a leader, like so many of the dreamers. Maybe you chose Arizona because many hearts are hardened by hate and cannot see past their prejudices. Perhaps you came here because you think Arizona is the epicenter of hate, specially after the governor signed sb1070 and you are fighting for all of us.
I really do not know where this is going to take you and all the dreamers. I really hope that your actions will soften some hearts when confronted with the ugly realties of what we have all done to children and young lives like yours in this country.
I pray today for your safety and for the safety of all DREAMers.
Love and hugs,
Carmen Cornejo
oooopsss the date is Monday, May the 17th, 2010 (you can tell I'm writing this in the middle of the night.
(Can you guys correct the date???)
Keep up the great work! Shout outs from NC
[...] to Juan from DREAM Activist, those arrested are still in custody but are expected to be released later today. Originally they [...]
[...] At 6pm last evening, four of those young immigration activists, three of whom are undocumented, were arrested on misdemeanor trespass charges when they refused to leave the office after closing. The three [...]
Arizona’s new immigration law may have been aimed at deporting as many illegal immigrants as possible, but an ironic side effect will allow more undocumented residents to apply for temporary work visas and permanent U.S. citizenship, according to research by the Arizona Capitol Times.
Do you still support the Law, make your voice heard on http://immigration.civiltalks.com/
Some people on the front lines of immigrants rights work are calling the DREAM Act an Undocumented draft. Given that for every undocumented student in college there are 20 who don't go to college. Most of these 20 will not suddenly find the money and resources to go to college after the DREAM act passes and therefore they may see the military option as the only option. That could quickly turn into a dangerous situation. Military recruiters would have access to a pool of hundreds of thousands of undocumented youth who need to enlist to get "legal". They also need an honorable discharge to stay"legal". These factors equal a scenario in which many of todays undocumented youth could become tomorrows Afghanistan and Iraq casualties.
I want to create a path to legalization and citizenship for those who want it for undocumented youth but I don't want to sell out the bulk of the undocumented youth community to a backdoor draft.
I have major concerns about this. How do others reconcile this?