Sunset.

The New Mexico sunset is one of the most beautiful things I’ve ever seen. The air and desert almost seems cleaner than it does in Arizona, my home state. It’s a few weeks after SB 1070 in Arizona passed and I’m standing in the parking lot of a strip mall on a hill in Albuquerque, emotionally and physically exhausted. I’m standing in front of the third New Mexico MVD I’ve visited in the last four days. This is the fifth time I’ve been to an MVD and I’m hoping that it will be my last. I grab the handle, hold my breath, pull the door, feel the rush of AC hit my face and step in. Here we go.

Rewind four days. I traveled to New Mexico to get my New Mexico Driver’s License. As an undocumented student I cannot legally get any form of U.S. State or Government identification in Arizona. This has periodically caused problems in my life.

For most of my life I got by on my Mexican-issued Matricula Consular. For the most part, I was able to use that to get by though I would periodically get an over 21 establishment that would refuse to serve me. I was even able to get on planes, but I would get the occasional glance from the TSA official. Luckily, the Matricula (and Mexican Passport, as I would later found out) are both in the TSA booklet for approved forms of identification when flying.

Unfortunately, I couldn’t use my Matricula for simple things like buying allergy medication from behind the counter as most states require a U.S. form of government ID. And more importantly, in group settings when the people around me would show their licenses, I would have to quickly take out my Matricula, show it and hope no one saw it or asked questions.

Eventually, I obtained a Mexican Passport which was a seven hour ordeal at the Mexican Embassy that cost over $100. But it was worth it. As one of my good friends put it, the Mexican Passport was “like gold” and accepted everywhere. I used it to fly on a regular basis and it never got a second look from people checking my age or ID. But a few months ago, I realized that this was no longer enough.

With Arizona’s SB 1070 and the recent increase in anti-immigration rhetoric and enforcement across the country I decided to travel to New Mexico in order to get a driver’s license. New Mexico is one of the few states that allow undocumented immigrants to obtain licenses and their roads are safer for it. A license also arouses less suspicion than foreign identification. A few of my friends had previously traveled to New Mexico to get their licenses. Last year, I used their experiences and New Mexico’s MVD website to cobble together an online step-by-step guide to obtain a license in New Mexico for the Texas DREAM Act Alliance. Ironically, however, I hadn’t gone through the process myself.

I arrived in New Mexico on a Tuesday morning. And so began the longest week of my life.

First stop, the private MVD. To get a license you have to pass both a written and an oral test. You can take it at the government MVD but the wait times can be upwards to two weeks. New Mexico is unique in that there are private MVDs scattered across the state where you can take both tests and then take your results to the government MVD. I was terrified about taking the test. While I had been practicing driving off and on for the last five years, I had yet to drive on the highway for more than an hour and had a combined five hours of total driving time. Would I end up coming all the way to New Mexico only to fail to get my license because I couldn’t actually drive?

Luckily, the written test was a brief and easy. The driving test was a quick drive around the block and, aside from an unfortunate incident with the parking break, went smoothly. My most terrifying moment was when the instructor asked me to turn on the windshield wipers. It was a borrowed car and for a good ten seconds I had no idea how to turn on the wipers.

Tip #1: Know how to turn on the windshield wipers.

Next was the government MVD. The first visit to the MVD was a bust. The reason? New Mexico MVDs close at 4PM. I arrived at 4:09PM. The following day I didn’t fare any better. I returned for a second time but was turned away because my bank account statement, one of the two proofs of residency, was printed from a computer and not mailed directly to my New Mexico Address.

Tip #2: If using a bank account statement was a proof of residency, have it mailed to your NM address – printed bank statements will not be accepted.

I returned a third time but was turned away again because my lease was executed by the same person that wrote my affidavit of New Mexico residency.

Tip #3: The person that writes an affidavit of residency on your behalf cannot also be your landlord on a lease you present to the MVD.

At this point, I had to start going to a new MVD. I waited about two hours to see a clerk before being turned away a fourth time. This MVD (the one in downtown Alburqurque which you should avoid at all costs) found problems with my documentation that no other MVD had pointed out, including problems with: (a) my lease; (b) my passport; and (c) my ITIN letter.

Tip #4: Do not go to the MVD in downtown Albuquerque, multiple DREAMers have had problems with this MVD. It is the MVD from hell.

Frustrated and on the verge of tears, I threw caution to the wind and decided to go to a brand new MVD with all the same documents I had taken to the downtown MVD. This would be my fifth visit to the MVD.

And now we’re back to the beginning of the story.

I grab the handle, hold my breath, pull the door, feel the rush of AC hit my face and step in. Here we go. Again.

I ended up getting the meanest, rudest and stubborn MVD clerk in the entire place. He pointed out errors in my documents that didn’t exist. I tried telling him but he refused to listen and literally shoved all the documents back into my hands. Calmly, I explained the situation and after five minutes of arguing he finally realized that he was wrong. He accepted all my documents and begins processing the license.

Keep in mind, that these were all the same documents that the previous MVD had rejected.

Tip #5: If at first you don’t succeed, try five more times.

It was finally happening. I was about to get my temporary license and would soon have my permanent license in the mail. And then, just as my temporary license was about to print… the entire New Mexico MVD computer system crashed. Every MVD in the state went down.

At this point, I concluded that God did not want me to get my license. Clearly, this was the only rationale, logical explanation.

I hung out and waited, talking to the clerks desperately hoping system to come back online. Estimates were anywhere from ten minutes to two days. Great.

Finally, after an hour of agonizing waiting, the system came back up. They printed my temporary license and I ran out of the MVD as fast as I could. It took five visits, three MVDs and a total of three days, but I now had in my hand a temporary license with the permanent license in the mail in two to three weeks.

That was about a month ago. This morning I received my brand new NM license in the mail. I don’t think I’ve ever looked as happy in a picture as I do in my license picture.

It was a difficult process, but if I had to do it all over again – I would.

My license wasn’t the only good thing that came out of the trip. I used my experience to update the TDAA License guide which was a little out of date. As a result, it’s now one of the most comprehensive step by step guides on how to get a New Mexico license.

The New Mexico license isn’t infallible. In Arizona, an officer stopping you can still ask additional questions about your citizenship even if you show them a New Mexico license because it is common knowledge in enforcement circles that New Mexico offers licenses to undocumented immigrants. But still, aside from giving me the ability to legally drive in the United States it also gives me something else that is immeasurable and that seems to be in short supply these days – peace of mind.

Now if you’ll excuse me, I think I’ll go for a drink. Here’s to hoping they card.

Click below for the new and improved guide to getting a New Mexico Driver’s License hosted by the Texas DREAM Act Alliance.

http://www.txdreamactalliance.com/nm-license/

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Friday, May 28th 2010

IMMIGRANT YOUTH INITIATE HUNGER STRIKE!

Challenge Senator Schumer to be a leader on the Dream Act

New York, NY. On Tuesday, June 1st, a group of immigrant youth from the New York State Youth Leadership Council will begin a hunger strike in front of Senator Charles Schumer’s New York City Office. This action was postponed last week after a verbal commitment was made by the office of Senator Schumer to provide a response regarding the possibility of a Congressional Hearing for the Dream Act by Thursday afternoon. As further proof of the continual Congressional inaction and broken promises on the Development, Relief and Education for Alien Minors Act (DREAM Act), Senator Schumer’s office failed to provide a response and show its commitment to immigrant youth and their futures. The youth are urging Senator Schumer to move the DREAM Act forward in the Senate as a standalone bill.

The DREAM Act would allow immigrant youth who meet certain criteria, including coming to the US as children, graduating from high school, and completing two years of college or military service, to be on a path to citizenship. While Senator Schumer has co-sponsored the Act, he has been notably absent in the fight to move it forward and pass it this year, despite many efforts on the part of immigrant youth to urge him to do so. Due to his position as Chairman of the Senate Immigration Subcommittee, Senator Schumer has a huge role to play in the passage of any immigration legislation, including the DREAM Act, and his inaction is devastating to the prospects of passage of the DREAM Act this year.

This action comes on the heels of the detention of three undocumented students who staged a sit-in at Senator John McCain’s office in Arizona in support of the DREAM Act, and other acts of peaceful resistance and sit ins across the country by DREAM Act eligible youth who tired of broken promises and false hopes.

Press Conference+Rally

When: Tuesday, June 1st, 10AM EST

Who: Immigrant Youth from NYSYLC, La Union, Eye Openers SI, WALK, high school students and college students from CUNY, NYU, Columbia University, will begin hunger strike.

Where:        Outside of Senator Schumer’s NYC Office

757 Third Avenue, New York, NY 10017, Between 48th and 47th on 3rd Ave

For more info: Office:  212-627-2227 ext 248

Not in NYC? But wanna support??

Follow us on Twitter: @Starved4Dream

Please DONATE at: http://bit.ly/ylchungerstrike

In NYC?

Hi all,

In case you are wondering, the Trail of Dreams NY is still alive and walking across the great Northeast. Its been almost a week since we left NY and since then there have been at least 4 members of Congress who committed to supporting the Dream Act. Our feet our sore and blistered but we dont care. We will walk far and wide to urge our congressional representatives to pass the Dream Act immediately and end the Deportations of Dreamers. Please follow us on Twitter: @TrailofDreamsNY

Below is a video of us crossing over to PA!

Why are we walking?

EN ESPANOL

Donde estamos y porque estamos cruzando? from NYSYLC on Vimeo.

Daniela, 23

Daniela Hidalgo came to the United States when she was 14 years old.. She obtained her Bachelor’s degree in Business Administration from Baruch College/CUNY in 2007. However, after graduation, her options continue to be limited. Unable to pursue her dream job, travel around, visit her family back in her native country, Ecuador, she is stuck in the limbo along with thousands of other DREAMers. In 2007, Daniela joined the NYS Youth Leadership Council, where she found a haven from the frustration and disappointment that our lack of legal status creates. Her commitment to the organization and the DREAM movement has been increasing since then. Daniela walks because she believes in the talents, strength and willpower of DREAM youth.

Jose Luis, 29

Jose Luis Zacatelco was born in a small town in the city of Puebla Mexico in the 1980’s and was brought to the U.S at the age of 11 where he entered the 6^th grade in New York. When he started high school he did not know of the barriers coming ahead, due to the lack of immigration status in the country, He realized that he would have to strive even harder to achieve his academic goals. Despite of all the barriers he confronted, he plans to enroll in LaGuardia Community College and one day obtain a bachelors degree and hopefully a masters in Mental Health. At the age of 24 he co-founded The New York State Youth Leadership Council (NYSYLC) where he ran numerous workshops about access to higher education and the Dream act. Currently Jose Luis volunteers part of his time in the financial side and leadership development of the NYSYLC. He also teaches ESL classes at The New Immigrant Community Empowerment, and he’s always in the look out for helping his community and protecting the rights of young people and workers as well.

Gabriel, 27
Gabriel Martinez was born on in Molcaxac, Puebla, Mexico and immigrated to New York City at the age of eleven and has lived without immigration status ever since. He completed an associate’s in Applied Science in Electromechanical Engineering Technology from New York College of Technology and Bachelor of Arts in International Criminal Justice (ICJ) from John Jay College of Criminal Justice. Nevertheless, that has not stopped Gabe from organizing other immigrant youth around the Dream Act since 2004 or fighting for social justice.

Martin, 22

Martin Lopez was born in Southern California to Mexican undocumented immigrant parents. He moved to New York City in 2005 to attend college. His first experience organizing around immigrant rights issues was when the Sensenbrenner Bill (HR. 4437), which sought to criminalize undocumented immigrants and their families, came up in Congress. He helped found Lucha,  a student group at Columbia University which deals with issues that affect working class people – lack of access to education, health care reform, wage disparity, exploitation and sexual harassment in the work place. He is currently the Youth Organizer for the New York State Youth Leadership Council.

Marisol, 25

Marisol Ramos was born and raised in the South Bronx to undocumented Mexican immigrant parents. Growing up she became aware of the inequities undocumented immigrants faced through her own families experience of exploitation and fear of deportation. Her commitment to fighting for social justice has translated throughout her work as an immigrant rights organizer.

Marisol is a co-founder of the New York State Youth Leadership Council (NYSYLC) and founding board member of the national United We Dream Network. During the day, Marisol works as a Program Associate at the New World Foundation. Marisol obtained a B.A from Hunter College-CUNY double majoring in English Literature and Criticism and Women Studies with honors.  Marisol is walking with the Trail of Dreams NY in honor of her family and friends who are affected by a broken immigration system.

The fearless work of undocumented youth is crossing international borders in ways that undocumented youth can’t. Members of the YLC and their work were recently featured in Norwegian Press and Al-Jazeera news.

Check it out! #FAIL for Al Jazeera for using the term “illegal” immigrants

Also check out Dagsavisen!
Here is the original link: http://bit.ly/9I5uSi

Translation:
http://bit.ly/bxB9oK

Join us this Friday at our Coming Out Rally outside of 26 Federal Plaza.  Bring your “I am undocumented” shirts and come hear some very powerful testimonies of Dreamers unafraid to come out and tell their story.

Will you be there?? Let us know

1. Call us at 212-627-2227 ext 248 to let us know your coming!

2. Email Angy at angy@nysylc.org

   

We know that we promised to upload one story everyday for Coming Out Week and apparently you all expected us to do it on weekends too. But we were in New Jersey facilitating a training and didn’t have time …. so we’re going to make it up to you by posting TWO stories every day!

Here is Valeria’s:

As I walked to the subway this morning, I saw a woman in a yellow coat walking in the same direction. She had a coffee in one hand, a paperback book in the other and a purse which seemed to have weighed a bunch since it was making her right shoulder slouch a bit more than the left. Something very familiar about this lady intrigued me, but I simply shrugged my shoulders and continued walking to the 1 downtown train station that I have been taking every day for the past seven months.

Coincidentally enough, the lady in the yellow coat was sitting directly in front of me as the train had come to the station. I put my drink down, looked inside my heavy purse to find that I had forgotten my current novel at home. I had absolutely nothing to do for the next 45 minutes of my life other than wander my eyes aimlessly around in hope of something interesting to catch my sight.

I closed my eyes and memories filled my head as fast as the speed of the train.

…

I thought of my dad the day before we came to the United States from Colombia trying to ease my tears away by telling me about all the new amazing opportunities my upcoming life had in store for me. That’s something he’s always been good at- making the hardest situations never reflected in his face, by only displaying pure confidence through his eyes. As we landed in New York in January of 1998, my small seven year old body could barely stand the cold, but as always, my parents were there giving me protection to stay warm.

Scholastically, I was the same as my peers .Within two years in the country, I was put into a regular speaking English classroom. By 5^th grade, I was president of the student council. I really started to believe all those stories my dad had told me. I had friends, a supporting family and an undeniably successful future ahead- or so I believed.

Never did I pay close attention to the fact that my family and I were undocumented. My dad worked with my uncle at a shoe store and my mom was a housewife, so to me, I was like the other kids. When my family decided to move to Miami, Florida after 6^th grade, I knew that it had to do a lot with my dad’s job. We moved to make ends meet as he began to work for himself, always coming home with a smile on his face; quickly turned upside down once he and my mom would close the door and talk about money and immigration while my older sister and I just listened.

High school was the peak for me, as it is for many undocumented students. By senior year, even though I had been accepted into the school of my choice with 75% of paid tuition, I knew I wasn’t going to be able to attend. I wasn’t an eligible resident and all my trophies, awards, recognitions, my time as class president and speaking at my graduation became no more than just a faded memory.

All my friends thought I had my whole future ahead of me, when I had no clue where my college career fell in place and instead I was the one feeling jealous of them and I blamed my parents for it. I saw my only choice was to move back to New York because I read of the in-state tuition within one year and I simply saw no other choice.

I thought of the past seven months and how they have been a completely mind and life changing experience. I am now enrolled in a community college taking day by day as it comes. I began to write to numerous organizations and miraculously got a response from the New York State Youth Leadership Council who is engaged in raising awareness for immigrant youth by promoting the DREAM act. This organization has brought back the confidence I lost the day I got my high school diploma.

I remember watching an All-Stars production (another organization I volunteer in) called The Task and hearing someone say “if we always hide who we are, do we become what we’re not?” That line has stuck to me since that day and one thing that I would never want to do is become a different person than who I am today, which is why I am showing my true personality. The stubbornness I once had has faded, the struggles my family has faced have only made me stronger  and I want nothing more than to change the perspective of those who think that we undocumented students don’t deserve to further our education.

…

The train came to a halt, making me blink my eyes to reassure my present reality. It was my stop and I suddenly got up to walk out as the lady in the yellow coat shot me a quick glance which made me realize that in her, I saw me. I saw the hope and the confidence that encourages me that someday, I’ll be able to fulfill all my dreams because in the end, when we are on one train wanting to go to a particular destination, it is very difficult to derail. You take your own train in the path of life, and no one could take that away from you- not even the barriers that stand against us.

The YLC will feature the story of undocumented youth as told by them. This is Brian’s story

I never thought of myself as different from anyone else. When I came here, I never questioned what got me into the United States. After all, I was just seven. I didn’t have a choice on whether to stay in Jamaica with my mother or go to America to live with a man I barely knew, my father. My mother sent me here to live a new, better, and successful life and that’s what I promised her I would do. I never knew keeping that promise would be so hard.

It was in middle school when I was well aware of my father’s financial situation. This was why I didn’t tell my father when my shoes were worn out at the bottom, when my jeans were becoming highwaters, and why I never went to the movies with my friends. I was too embarrassed to hear my father tell me we were too broke to afford what I needed or wanted; if I didn’t ask for anything, I didn’t have to hear him say no. My father had trouble keeping a job and his hand disability made it even harder for him to get a job. I did not like seeing my father struggling or worrying about how he was going to pay the bills.

I learned about my immigration situation during this time. This was the time when everyone around me was getting their working papers and applying for different jobs. My guidance counselor gave me a list of documents I needed to bring in, including a copy of my birth certificate and social security card. I placed it on my father’s dresser where it remained untouched. When I finally asked him for those documents he got so angry. He yelled at me and asked me why I was being ungrateful. He implied that I didn’t appreciate what I had. I translated what he said to mean I didn’t have those documents.He never told me why he got mad but now I understand the pain he must have felt knowing what a burden not having those documents would be on me. Ever since then speaking of my status in or out of the house was taboo. Even with this information I never stopped working hard in school, partly because I was young and didn’t know what it would mean for my future.

It was my junior year of high school and I was sick of feeling helpless. I wanted to take control of my life but at the same time I didn’t want people to feel sorry for me or think I was less than them due to my status. I thought if I spoke about my problems, someone might give me the answers. How wrong I was to believe that obtaining citizenship was going to be easy. I spoke to teachers, guidance counselors, and lawyers and they didn’t give me great options. Teachers that were supposed to be a source of knowledge didn’t know anything about my situation. The people that were supposed to guide me through my high school ordeals didn’t know what path I should take.

This year, I followed my peers’ lead. I studied for the SATs, wrote college essays, and applied to as many colleges as I could; in the hopes that one of those colleges would give me a scholarship that would help me pay for the tuition. I have received acceptance letters into many of the colleges I applied to. Now I wonder how I will pay.

Throughout the years I have been told by teachers, family members, and friends that the future holds great things in store for me. I embrace this support, but I can’t help but to be a little pessimistic. “What do I have to look forward to?” is what I ask myself every morning when I prepare for school. Hopping for a better future for myself was what got me to school.

I’m an undocumented Jamaican immigrant who comes from a poor, unloving, and unsympathetic family, what chance do I have? I always believed that my desire to excel would help me to exceed my expectations. I expected more for myself in the future rather than depression and lost ambitions. Why shouldn’t I have that future I always wanted? I didn’t think I had anything after high school to look forward to. That was until I heard about the Dream Act.

I was researching ways of becoming a citizen. An attorney at a well-known organization, called The Door, sat with me in her office and looked at me with compassion. She was going through the eligibility of the Dream Act and a great smile rose across my face when I realized that I qualified. I went through the eligibility over and over in my head and still couldn’t believe it.

I wanted to get involved, to help myself get where I knew I deserved to be. So when I heard about an organization that fought for the Dream Act and allowed youth like myself to get active I joined. Now I call the NYSYLC office home.

My experience as an undocumented youth has taught me that hope is most necessary for us to achieve our dream. As I get ready to explore the next step in my life, I think about students that do qualify for federal aid and other undocumented students that don’t. I look upon those undocumented students that overcame many endeavors and graduated from college as a source of hope.  They overcame my challenge.  Martin Luther King Jr. once said,” If you lose hope, somehow you lose the vitality that keeps life moving, you lose that courage to be, that quality that helps you go on in spite of it all. And so today I still have a dream.”  When no one else believed in me I had to believe in myself. When no one else had hope I learned that hope had to be created within.

“I am Superman- and I am undocumented.”

To the shock of the world, we’ve learned that after more than seven decades of saving hard-working Americans, one of our most beloved superheroes, Superman, is an undocumented immigrant.

Otherwise know by his Kryptonian name, Kal-el, Superman has been living in the United States for over seven decades and has decided to come out of the shadows, once and for all.

Originally from the planet Krypton, The Man of Steel crash-landed in Kansas sometime around 1938, and was “adopted” by Martha and Jonathan Kent, who named him Clark. There are no legal records of this adoption. There are absolutely no records of a Clark Kent other than his Daily Planet bylines and desk tag.

No fingerprints on file, no green card, no social security number, and no driver’s license issued to a Clark Kent.

This begs the question- who exactly is Clark Kent?

Among being a son, a friend, a neighbor, and a superhero, Mr. Kent is a college graduate. Mr. Kent was able to attend Metropolis University, where he majored in everything and graduated at the top of his class.

“We had no idea that Mr. Kal-El was undocumented,” says Metropolis University’s Dean of Admissions. “He was a regular all-American linebacker. Without him we wouldn’t have gone to state. He’s one of us.”

Since getting an education, Old Blue Eyes has been working without pay at the Daily Planet on the sly. “I only hope one day that the world will recognize not only my ability to leap tall buildings in a single bound, but also the potential I have to contribute to the American economy as an educated college graduate.”

“My parents made great sacrifices to make sure I came here,” stated Superman/Clark Kent/Kal-El, “and they wanted me to pursue the American dream. I believe I have done so, and would like for the good people of America to recognize me as well as the work I do. Also, I pay taxes, and when I retire from ‘the superhero biz’ I’d like to collect on my social security. I think I deserve it, especially after having saved the planet multiple times.”

His colleagues Batman, Spider-Man and Captain America could not be reached for comment, however it should be noted that Spider-Man is of Polish decent, Batman has Italian immigrant parents and Captain America was born in Australia and only recently became a naturalized citizen.