“The situation we find ourselves in makes it so much harder to get up and face the world everyday, but the more struggles we face, the more worth fighting for it must be. We can lead protective lives, hiding away from reality and immigration authorities. Or, we can take on the things that scare us the most. I ask you today to make the choice to fight.”
-Kemi, undocumented student from Texas.

Status quo U.S. immigration laws currently seek to deport award-winning young student artists like Meynardo Garcia, keep aspiring artists like Moreno in the closet, render young adults with perfectly ‘legal’ parents stateless, and close the doors of opportunity to countless others right after high school simply because these students don’t have a 9-digit number and a Green card. These immigrant youth were brought to the United States by their parents and have grown up American, want to go to college and contribute to society but are unable to do so due to legal status. The only way for most of them to adjust their status—get in line—is through the DREAM Act.

First introduced in 2002, the bipartisan federal legislation known as the DREAM Act (short for Development, Relief, and Education for Alien Minors) would provide a path to legal residency for certain young people brought here before the age of 15, who have lived here for 5 or more years and fulfilled certain requirements such as graduating from high school, attending college or serving in the military and maintaining good moral character.

The bill fell short of just 8 votes of reaching cloture in 2007 but has since then been revived, with growing support from faith-based leaders, educators, politicians, labor and business alike.

With the Capitol Dome behind them, hundreds of youth from all over the country, along with education, faith, business, immigrant and civil rights leaders are expected to participate in a National DREAM Graduation ceremony, hosted by the United We Dream Coalition (UWD) today. The graduation ceremony will recognize the talents and significant academic achievements of immigrant students who would benefit from the legislation, highlighting their contributions and service in local communities.

Mohammad from DreamActivist, who is serving as Master of Ceremonies for the National Graduation in Washington D.C. asks us not to forget the struggles of DREAM Act students that have already been deported:

“We remember students like Sarjina Emy, Camilla Hornung, Maria Varvas and countless others who have already been deported, whose doors to opportunity are not only closed, but now welded shut. We are here to remember these students and to ensure that DREAM passes so their struggles were not in vain.”

Students and allies hope to stress that the immigration system is broken, tearing apart families, squandering the potential of immigrant youth and hindering them from contributing to America.

With the DREAM Act, immigrant kids who are currently excluded from access to higher education and the economy, who feel despair and choose not to go to college, will be allowed to participate fairly, and will pay the same fees and tuition as all other students. This is expected to bring in millions of dollars to state colleges and universities, according to the non-partisan policy analysts like the Rand Corporation, taxpayer protection advocates, various state boards of higher education, the College Board among others

Matias from the UCLA Labor Center says that the planning for this particular DREAM graduation feels better than previous ones. “There is just much better coordination and visibility due to the new media provided by DreamActivist.org that has led to solidarity actions across America. We are all quite excited.”

This is the perfect time for immigration reform, and this bill would be an excellent first step. For a list of solidarity events, see this link.

Here is 10 Things You Can do to Support the DREAM Act.