Immigration Packet #2: The Movement
DREAMERS organize and tell their stories:
The following short video goes over the various laws, and a few DREAMERS’ experiences:
http://www.nytimes.com/2012/12/01/us/dream-act-gives-young-immigrants-a-political-voice.html?pagewanted=all&_r=1&
1. What types of action/strategies are discussed and/or shown in the video?
#2: Youth-led organizations & events:
Many of the organizations and events of the movement are run by youth, including the largest immigrant youth-led, United We Dream, an organization that now has more than 4,000 young immigrant members. United We Dream was given the 2013 Medal of Liberty by the ACLU (American Civil Liberties Union).
The president of the ACLU said of their work, "In just a few short years, United We Dream has risen to become a transformative leader for U.S. immigration reform, beginning with its breakthrough efforts to achieve equal access to higher education, regardless of immigration status, through the DREAM Act. “
Check out their website: http://unitedwedream.org
#2: Undocumented, Unafraid, and Unapologetic:
Students take to the streets to declare their undocumented status on the National Coming out of the Shadows Day, risking the possibility of arrest and deportation. Here is one student’s comments:
“My name is Cindy. I’m 21 years old. I’m undocumented. I’m unafraid. And I’m unapologetic. On March 10, 2011, we are going to have undocumented youth proclaim their undocumented status. They will tell everyone that they should not be sorry for being in the United States. That they should not apologize for getting an education, that they should not be sorry for their parents trying to make a living in the U.S.
By coming out we share our stories. We put our face to this issue. We are human.”
Watch a video that features other young students: http://colorlines.com/archives/2011/03/dreamers_come_out_im_undocumented_unafraid_and_unapologetic.html
1. Looking at the images above and reading Cindy’s comments, what importance do you think “coming out” of the shadows has for these young people—what message are they trying to tell the country?
2. What symbolic imagery are they using above in the images and what does it show/tell?
#3: Facebook founder supports DREAMERS with organization and Hackathon:
After teaching an in afterschool program to adolescents, some of who were DREAMERS, Mark Zuckerberg, the founder of facebook, started a non-profit to advance immigration reform, Fwd.us. He wrote an opinion editorial in The Washington Post, and visited Capital Hill to support immigration reform and the DREAM Act. In addition, he hosted a 24hr. hackathon with DREAMERS to code alongside him and other famous techies. They were challenged to create technology that would somehow support immigration rights movement. 2 students from UCLA won the hackathon, by creating an application that allows users to find out their congress peoples’ stances on immigration reform, and to contact them. Zuckerberg’s opinion editorial: http://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/mark-zuckerberg-immigrants-are-the-key-to-a-knowledge-economy/2013/04/10/aba05554-a20b-11e2-82bc-511538ae90a4_story.html
#4: Prominent figures support DREAM Act, write letter to Senate:
Eva Longoria supports the DREAM Act. So, too does New York Mets second baseman Luis Castillo and actor America Ferrera, of Ugly Betty (a ColorLines favorite) fame. Oh, and Miami Sound Machine’s Emilio Estefan and New Mexico Gov. Bill Richardson.
They all told the Senate so today in a letter addressed to Senate leaders and jointly signed by the National Council of La Raza and other Latino politicians and business leaders. “America cannot afford to lose another generation of young people who stand to contribute to its economic and social prosperity,” they said. “The beneficiaries of the ‘DREAM Act’ are our future teachers, nurses, and engineers…The Latino community is counting on Congress to come together and show its support for the future of these young people and the nation.”
http://colorlines.com/archives/2010/12/eva_longoria_wants_the_senate_to_pass_the_dream_act.html
#5: DREAM activists tell their stories, using narrative to build support:
One of the most important strategies that the DREAM movement has used involves DREAMERS telling their own stories. Listen to Sofia Campos story here: http://www.npr.org/2012/12/25/167526579/in-pursuit-of-recognition-undocumented-immigrant-s-resilient-fight
1. Why do you think DREAMERS have decided to use telling their stories as a strategy? What do they hope to achieve?
#7: Creative Imagery: Art, Posters, Videos communicate message
The movement has utilized art to promote its message, making evocative posters, and engaging videos to get its message to the masses.
Videos:
a. Watch this informative, yet creative video about the DREAM ACT. Notice, too, the use of story-telling: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MXnqhG2h9QA
b. Terrence Park a math student at UC Berkeley came out as undocumented, in this video he made with director, David Guggenheim who made the documentaries, “An Inconvenient Truth” and “Waiting for Superman.”and Laurene Powell, wife of the late apple co-founder Steve Jobs. “Chalkboard: Video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eeDdBcnkbXg
Poster Art:
1. Pick one of the videos, and one of the posters to analyze for the message you think it is trying to communicate.
#8: Humorous, Direct Activism:
Three undocumented immigrants delivered cantaloupes to Reprepsentative Steve King's (R-Iowa) office and called for his removal from the House Judiciary Committee after the lawmaker insisted that many Dreamers are involved in the drug trade, saying, "For everyone who's a valedictorian, there's another 100 out there that weigh 130 pounds and they’ve got calves the size of cantaloupes because they're hauling 75 pounds of marijuana across the desert,."
Maricela Aguilar, a 22-year-old organizer for Dreamer group United We Dream, said that King was trying to "give this narrative of us being criminals and bad people, when we're not." Aguilar is a graduate student at Brandeis University in Massachusetts and said that she was in the top 10 percent of her graduating class in high school.
#9: Sit-ins:
Across the nation, many activists waged sit-ins, where they went to a key locations and refused to leave, halting business as usual, in order to make a statement. In some cases, activists also went on a hunger strike during sit-ins. A few activists went to Obama’s campaign headquarters in Denver, a few went to Senator John McCain’s office, and some to Capital Hill. Some students were arrested, which is even more dangerous, as many students are also undocumented.
1. What is notable about the image portrayed by these activists?
2. How might a sit-in or hunger strike like these influence people? Think about where they “sat-in” and the effect that they might have been going for?
#10: Education & Community Support:
Many of the activists are not only protesting and making statements, but also educating the community about their rights, and how to participate in the political process and navigate government forms, etc. This website helps student and parents find out their eligibility for DACA, and fill out forms:
http://www.weownthedream.org/#
#11: Symbolic Direct Action:
The Dream 9 are a group of Mexican nationals raised in the U.S. who, in protest of immigration policies, self-deported to Mexico. Once on the Mexican side, they attempted to re-enter the U.S. by seeking political asylum. They were taken into custody by authorities and, once detained, staged a hunger strike to draw attention to their cause. They say goals were two-fold: to draw attention to the limbo that young people like them are stuck in and to bring fresh scrutiny to the Obama administration's steady stream of deportations. (The nine were eventually granted release from detention and will await a decision from a judge on their asylum petitions, a process that could take years. Every year, Mexican nationals are granted only 2% of total amnesties.
http://www.npr.org/blogs/codeswitch/2013/08/20/213790881/the-dream-9-pushes-the-envelope-and-their-allies-buttons
#11: Building Allies
The DREAM movement has build important allies, like the NAACP, the NEA (National Educational Association), American Federation of Teachers, the AFL-CIO labor unions, and has made symbolic gestures to align themselves with the civil rights movement and LGBTQ movements.
*NAACP Supports Dream Act
http://www.naacp.org/action-alerts/entry/naacp-supports-dream-act-legislation/
*Allies hold press conference with DREAMERS:
http://www.nea.org/home/38653.htm
#12: Speaking Truth to Power in Different Ways:
One of the beautiful things about this movement, is that anyone could become an activist, anyone could speak out, and speak truth to those in power.
*In 2011, when Obama spoke at the NCLA (National Council of La Raza), the crowd responded in chat to his claiming that he couldn’t do anything without senate and congress approval, with “Yes, You Can!” See video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1_HS3xdhc9E
*Isabel Castillo, an undocumented woman who graduated Manga Cum Laude from college after working a year from 9:30 a.m. to 10 p.m. in order to pay for it, but was unable to get a job after due to her citizenship status, became an activist in Virginia. She organized events, including town hall meeting, speaking out to Virginia politicians, including the Governor, and to students at University of Virginia, a school that does not allow undocumented students to attend.
Here is her story: http://www.nytimes.com/2011/02/21/education/21winerip.html?pagewanted=all&_r=1&