SEATTLE, WA – As part of the National Undocumented Come Out Week coordinated by the United We Dream Network, students all over the country are disclosing their undocumented status during the week of March 15th through March 21st in an effort to spur Congress into taking action to reform the country’s immigration laws.

In the state of Washington, over 65 undocumented students from the Washington Dream Act Coalition (WDAC) came out of the shadows through a video montage calling for Senators Maria Cantwell and Patty Murray to take the lead for Comprehensive Immigration Reform.

“Stepping out of the shadows has been a very liberating experience for me,” said Marc, an undocumented graduate of the University of Washington and member of the WDAC. “I will no longer lie and make up stories to my friends to hide my immigration status,” he added. “Hopefully, others will follow our example and together we can finally bring real change to this broken immigration system.”

Though comprehensive immigration reform looms in the background as the next big issue for the Obama administration, due to the prolonged health care debate and the upcoming midterm elections, the window of opportunity to pass reform this year is slowly closing. “United We Dream, We Stand, and We Come out of the shadows” Alonso Chehade, a UW Alumni best known for his fight against deportation and a grassroots organizer for the WDAC, stated in an e-mail.

The Washington Dream Act Coalition was recently founded by several undocumented student leaders from the state of Washington in an effort to raise awareness and build support to achieve the passage of Comprehensive Immigration Reform and the Dream Act.

Check out this video, brought to you by the Washington Dream Act Coalition: Washington Dreamers