MEDIA ADVISORY: Student Advocates of California Dream Act to Present Report Detailing Undocumented Students' Dilemmas
Daniel Huang
Where: UCLA Downtown Labor Center
675 S. Park View St. 1st Floor
Los Angeles, CA 90095
When: Wednesday July 25, 2007
9:30 am – 11:00 am
Why: CA Dream Act, UCLA Publication
Policy Advocate, Immigrant Rights Project
Asian Pacific American Legal Center
1145 Wilshire Blvd., 2nd Floor Los Angeles, CA 90017
Tel: (213) 977-7500 Ext. 237 Fax: (213) 977-7595
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
July 23, 2007
Contacts:
Ernesto Rocha Lourdes Galindo Tam Tran
(951) 378-6206 (310) 619-5703 (714) 943-6000
ero...@ucla.edu lulis...@yahoo.com tam.n...@gmail.com
Student Advocates of "California DREAM ACT"
To present report detailing
undocumented students’ dilemmas
Undocumented immigrant UCLA students and graduates will unveil the report Undocumented Students, Unfulfilled Dreams in support of the pending California Dream Act on Wednesday, July 25th 9:30 AM at the downtown UCLA Labor Center near MacArthur Park. The report highlights the testimonies of twelve undocumented high school and college students and recent college graduates. The testimonies describe their personal stories and struggles with being undocumented in the American higher education system.
The California Dream Act (SB 65) would provide undocumented students access to institutional merit-based scholarships and aid, and Cal Grant B, now unavailable because of their immigration status.
The bill is currently stalled in the Assembly Rules Committee and is waiting to be introduced by Assembly Speaker Fabian Nunez.
State Senator Gilbert Cedillo, the California Dream Act’s chief senate sponsor, will be present to accept the report from the students. Assemblymember Mike Eng, one of the co-authors of the bill, will be there as well.
Students featured in the publication, including participants of a recent week-long fast in support of the Dream Act, will be available for interviews.
The report Undocumented Students, Unfulfilled Dreams includes testimonies from students who came to California as small children and excelled in school but now find their future aspirations thwarted. Bianca, a high school junior originally from Romania, is highlighted in the publication and explains how the passage of the California Dream Act would help her continue her education: “Five years of struggle, tears, happiness, and decisions have
MORE
passed by since my family came [to the United States]…I will be a senior in high school…I want to be a nurse practitioner. This requires a great deal of knowledge, more education, and financial support. I fear the financial support will not be available.”
The press conference will take place on Wednesday, July 25th, 2007 at 9:30 am at the UCLA Downtown Labor Center, 675 S. Parkview St. 1st Floor, Los Angeles, CA 90095, between Wilshire and 7th Street. Two hour meter parking is available in front of the Labor Center. Limited free street parking is available.
The event is organized by IDEAS. The students and supporters of the group hope to pressure Assembly Speaker Fabian Nunez to move the California Dream Act to the floor for a hearing.
IDEAS (Improving Dreams, Equality, Access and Success), founded in 2003, is a multi-ethnic/cultural support group for undocumented students at UCLA. The organization promotes equal access to higher education for all students—regardless of immigration status—by giving workshops throughout the community to students and educators, communicating with legislators, and by advocating for both the California Dream Act and the bipartisan Federal DREAM Act, which would promote a path to citizenship for undocumented students.
###