It has happened again, immigration has swept in and picked up another student!! This time victim is Walter Lara of Florida, fortunately for Walter he is in an area with a very active immigration coalition and even more active youth organizers, namely Students Working for Equal Rights.  SWER has launched an all out effort to try and halt the deportation of Walter, lets be sure to do everything we can to help them out.

From Walter:

At a young age I would get these visions in my sleep, never knowing what they meant. I think they were my mother and I. We were hiding, I was three years old. I could feel the tension, I wanted to cry but my mom was pleading with me not to. I recall the image of us hiding under a train, and holding each other tighter as the footsteps came closer. As quickly as the vision came, just as quickly it went away.

I have another of these visions of which I remember. It’s of my mom and I walking through bushes, late at night. I remember vividly the tearing of her stockings as she treaded along carrying me. At first it was easy we where in a downward inclination, but then it got harder, we had to go up later realizing that it was a small valley. As she kept going I saw lights appear; they were headlights from a vehicle, and there were people in front of those lights. My mom then got frantic and started moving all over the place. They were throwing rocks for reasons that I could not comprehend. I don’t remember what happened after that. In either vision I could not hear a thing; I could only feel the anxiety and the stress both my mom and I were sharing.

Around the time I was about to graduate from high school I asked my mom about these visions. I thought they were just dreams, but I would get them often. She told me that these visions were not dreams, but were actual events, things that we went through to get from Argentina to the United States. I was ignorant towards the country’s legal system before that day.

When going through the very difficult task of finding a college that would accept an illegal alien; I realized that I never knew before that moment, that I was considered different than my classmates. My parents never told me about our situation, they wanted to keep it away from me so that I wouldn’t think less of myself than anybody else, and so that I would not worry. It has changed me deeply and I have developed a new respect for my parents, for all they have done for me to be in country and to have the opportunity for an education.

The laws of the land disallow me to have an education, but I continue to strive towards a full and complete education. With all the stress and anxiety I am feeling now, I look back and remember the pressure that my mom had to go through to take me to this country and I look forward to all the obstacles that I may encounter.

What Can You Do?

• Co-Sign senator Bill Nelson’s letter to DHS: http://action.seiu.org/page/s/nelsonletterblog
• Call DHS, Sec. Napolitano, and urge her to defer Walter’s deportation: call the comment line and leave a message: 202.282.8495. http://call.seiu.org/9/walterlara
• Demand Sec Napolitano steps in to defer his case, send this electronic letter to her, a copy of letter will be sent to FL congressional leaders. http://immigration.change.org/actions/view/stop_the_deportation_of_dream_student_walter_lara
• Post these widgets on your personal blogs / websites.

or, Create a Petition

• Join the facebook page as an act of solidarity and to find out specifics of his case and what you can do! http://www.facebook.com/home.php#/group.php?gid=101711417560&ref=ts
• Follow Walter on Twitter
• Walter petition: http://www.gopetition.com/online/28773.html