Fired up and ready to go in Florida!

The Reform Immigration for America (RI4A) and FIRM campaign have been hosting several trainings across the states of Colorado and Florida in order to increase awareness and raise support for the Comprehensive Immigration Reform debate as it unfolds in the coming months. These trainings are aimed to the real “in the trenches” fighters, and RI4A acknowledges the value of youth efforts in the communities of both states. Throughout last weekend over 200 participants were trained and equipped with the tools to bring the movement to their respective campuses and communities. Next weekend, the training will repeat itself in Colorado, hosted by the Colorado Immigrants Rights Coalition.

Members from the DreamActivist team, including myself, were present at last weekend’s Orlando, Florida training. During the event we were able to network and break into new territory across the state. I’m looking at you, New College of Florida, which along many other groups/organizations/high schools/college campuses have successfully organized and registered events for our DREAM Act Back-to-School Day of Action!

Prominent leaders; documented and undocumented alike, from every region of the Sunshine state were able to meet face to face to coordinate and observe techniques to improve their advocacy efforts. Moderators, facilitators, and even organizers from the Obama campaign were present and were able to provide workshops and discussions to illustrate how the immigration issue affects us all at a personal level, as Americans, and as a country. All participants were fired up, and wasted no time or energy in organizing the materials necessary to get their own campaign within their community moving to bring awareness to the immigration reform effort.

One of the main purposes of the training was to enable the participants with the ability to tell their own personal story, as well as the narrative of us and now, in order to illustrate how the immigration issue has affected them and more importantly ties them to the pro-migrant movement. Moreover, participants were able to meet their undocumented counterparts, who take huge risks on a daily basis by going public and sharing their story. By raising our voices and making sure they are heard, we  get the word out and show  that a single  piece of paper keeps certain individuals from making our dreams come true.

Students Working for Equal Rights (SWER) core members were present at the training, and demonstrated how their organization has grown and expanded in order to spread awareness of the pro-migrant movement. Additionally, they highlighted the importance of having a state-wide network that can remain united, organized, and coherent in order to support one another and have a bigger impact and encompass the state in a more efficient manner. Already there are several campuses starting their own SWER chapter, and we here at DreamActivist are glad to see the commitment and expansion that is occurring across Florida.

A time table was presented for the immigration reform plan of action,  with the Back to School DREAM Act Day of Action around the corner and as the first major point in that timeline.  We are excited for the coming months and readying our efforts to make sure Immigration Reform is passed and done right this time around!

To RI4A, thank you for dedicating your time, making this event possible and providing the means to get Florida organized, not to mention the fun weekend we all had. To SWER, a loud shout out for your hard work and dedication to the cause. We anticipate more awesome high impact DREAM events being planned in the near future. To everyone else who participated on the event, keep up the hard work, stay focused and don’t forget to register your event here at DREAM Activist.