Moratorium on Deportations Campaing Press Statement on Dream Arrestees

[Orlando Sepulveda]

Chicago, July 21st of 2010 Contact: Orlando Sepúlveda, orl...@yahoo.com, 773-387-8225 The Moratorium on Deportations Campaign will attend press conference in Solidarity with the 21 immigrant youth arrested on Washington DC, and for the occasion releases the following PRESS STATEMENT: The Moratorium on Deportations Campaign expresses solidarity and support with all immigrant youth arrested yesterday, July 20th, in Washington DC., while realizing a sit-in in various Senators’ offices, in their struggle for the passage of the Dream Act, legislation that would provide a path for the legalization of some of the 12 million undocumented immigrants presently in the United States. We call authorities to assure the families and communities affected that no one of the brave youth will be deported as result of these arrests. Their action highlights the desperation of immigrant families, and their youth are standing up to make a political case through direct action, because other political means of participation are denied to them. As Obama restated, the immigration system is broken, and these students’ resolution accentuates the point. But their action exposes how the political system is broken too. Are the politicians in Washington wait for a whole generation to be arrested and deported before deciding to do something about the millions of live living in the shadow? Yes, the system is broken, and before the undocumented can be part of the debate to fix it, deportations and other forms of immigration enforcement must be stopped, now. The state of injustice in which the undocumented live gets only heightened by the fear of deportation for taking political in their own behalf. As the SB1070 anti-immigrant racist law in Arizona is scheduled to be enacted in July 29th, we, in the Moratorium on Deportations Campaign, take pride in the courageous youth and set to continue their fighting example by calling in all immigrant rights advocates to a rally outside of Cook County Jail. As ICE deports one thousand plus people a day, on July 29th at 4 pm, we will gather in that number or more to show the administration and the public opinion how does a thousand people look like. Hidden to sight of all by the deportations allies, that for many Chicagoans it includes Cook County Jail, a thousand families are distressed every day. Free the Dream Act activists, without reprisal! End Deportations Now! No to SB 1070!