TAKE ACTION TODAY! Less then 24 hrs left before 1st vote on DREAM Act.

1 view
Skip to first unread message

Rosi Carrasco

unread,
Sep 20, 2010, 1:03:54 PM9/20/10
to mayday, National Alliance for Immigrant Rights C Committee

Espanol: Saludos a todos, (message in English below)
El articulo de abajo fue publicado el dia de hoy sobre el DREAM Act, y la valentia y coraje de jovenes de nuestra comunidad como Arianna y Vicente. Jovenes como ellos, no solo estan cambiando el movimiento inmigrante, son tambien el futuro de nuestras comunidades, y el futuro de este pais. Tenemos una responsabilidad cada uno de asegurar que ellos puedan continuar sus suenos y metas. Esta lucha no es solo de los jovenes que son elegibles para el DREAM Act, es una lucha de cada uno de nosotros por sus futuros y por la justicia de que todo joven tenga la oportunidad de alcanzar sus suenos, sin importar su estatus migratorio.

TOMEN ACCION! Tomen un minuto el dia de hoy para llamar al Senador Mitch McConell y decirle que no bloque el DREAM Act manana. Salio publicamente diciendo que bloqueara el voto al bill de defensa manana , para impidir que siga el DREAM como amienda.. Llame a ambos telefonos:
Mensaje: "Don't block the DREAM Act tomorrow. I fully support it, and ask you to use your leadership to make sure it moves forward"
Telefonos: 202-224-2541/502-582-6304
Al terminar de leer, el articulo, pon un mensaje el la pagina de Chicago Tribune. No te quedes callada/o..

English: Greetings,

the article below was published today regarding the DREAM Act and the courage of youth in our community like Arianna and Vicente. These youth, and many more, are not only changing the immigrant movement, they are the future of our communities, and the future of this country. Each of us have a responsibility to assure that they be able to continue their education and their dreams. This is not only the fight of DREAM-eligible students, it is our fight too for their futures and for the right that all youth in our communities have the opportunity to pursue their dreams, regardless if they are undocumented or not.

TAKE Action- take a moment today and make a call. We have less than 24 hrs left before the vote tomorrow at 12:30pm. Call Senator Mitch McConell and ask him NOT to block the DREAM act tomorrow. He publicly stated last week that he would block the vote on the defense bill because of the amendments, including DREAM Act.

Sample message: "Don't block the DREAM Act tomorrow. I fully support it, and ask you to use your leadership to make sure it moves forward"
Phone numbers: 202-224-2541/502-582-6304

After you read article, post a comment online. This article will be flooded by anti-immigrant messages by the end of today. Don't be silent.
www.chicagotribune.com/news/local/ct-met-dream-act-catholics-20100919,0,3798840.story

chicagotribune.com

Immigrant groups push lawmakers to vote for Dream Act

Legislation would let students who came to U.S. illegally go to college or join the military

By Kristen Schorsch, Tribune reporter
9:20 PM CDT, September 19, 2010


rianna Salgado has always known she illegally moved to the United States with her family more than a decade ago. But it didn't hit her until she realized she couldn't do many things her friends could, like get a driver's license or take a class trip to France and have no problem getting back into the country.

Despite being undocumented, Salgado, a senior at Proviso Mathematics and Science Academy in Forest Park, is sure she is headed to college, and she is part of a movement informing her her Melrose Park neighborhood and calling U.S. senators as they approach a vote on the Dream Act, short for the Development, Relief and Education for Alien Minors Act. The legislation would grant conditional legal status to people illegally brought into the country as children if they attend college or join the U.S. military.

Senate Democrats surprised immigrant groups last week when lawmakers announced they would attach the pending legislation, first proposed in 2001, to a defense reauthorization bill already headed for a vote. A vote on the legislation, which could happen Tuesday, would clear the way for a floor debate in the Senate about it.

"We look at it as the first step toward comprehensive immigration reform," Salgado, 17, said proudly, flanked by her parents at a festival Sunday at St. Charles Borromeo Catholic Church in Melrose Park.

Activists in Chicago and the suburbs, including parishioners at St. Charles Borromeo who support the legislation, launched an urgent campaign this weekend encouraging supporters to flood their senators with calls to support the Dream Act.

On Monday, more than 100 undocumented students and elected officials are expected to rally outside a U.S. Air Force recruitment office at Federal Plaza in downtown Chicago as a few students will attempt to enlist. Then they plan to camp overnight at Republican Party headquarters downtown to encourage lawmakers, including U.S. Rep. Mark Kirk, R-Ill., to vote "yes" for the Dream Act.

Petite with curly brown locks, Salgado stood at the entrance to an annual fest at St. Charles armed with dozens of yellow fliers. The leaflets urge people to call their lawmakers about the Dream Act and to attend a community forum on Monday in the church basement about the proposed legislation.

Salgado was 6 when her family packed up in Morelos, Mexico, and moved to the United States. She plans to attend college to study a social science, but she can't apply for financial aid because she's undocumented.

"I will still go to college, regardless," Salgado said. "It would just be harder to afford it."

She started attending rallies and handing out fliers earlier this year, hoping to drive more people to get behind the Dream Act.

"I am nervous and scared," Salgado said of the proposed legislation going forward after nearly a decade of jockeying among politicians. "It's a lot of emotion. ... This could be it."

Vicente Del Real, 21, of Westchester, said he is a "Dreamer" too. Del Real's family moved from Zacatecas, Mexico, to the United States when he was 15.

The undocumented Triton College student said he understands the risk he's taking by speaking out.

"But we are trying to fight for our rights and our dreams. I don't think there's anything illegal about wanting to get educated," Del Real said.

The Rev. Jorge Bravo, who leads St. Charles Borromeo, said his parishioners are a melting pot of Filipinos, Hispanics, Brazilians and Americans who support immigrant rights.

Deacon Freddy Palacios, who has been with the church for 23 years, said: "We have known the struggles they have had as far as trying to go to school."

Both Bravo and Palacios support the legislation. But not all Catholics agree with the activism at St. Charles Borromeo and other churches that back the Dream Act.

"I think this is a little bit over the line, actually telling them to vote for a certain (piece of) legislation," said Mary Anne Hackett, president of Catholic Citizens of Illinois, a conservative group concerned about what its members view as the erosion of Catholic unity.

klsch...@tribune.com
Copyright © 2010, Chicago Tribune



--
Yesenia Sánchez
Lead Community Organizer
P.A.S.O.- West Suburban Action Project
Proyecto de Accion de los Suburbios del Oeste

1115 N. 23rd Ave.
Melrose Park IL 60160
Office: 708-345-3632 Ext. 302
Fax: 708-345-3951

*******TAKE ACTION IN FAVOR OF IMMIGRATION REFORM!!  Send a text message with the word "JUSTICE" to 69866 to receive immediate alerts*****

P.A.S.O. - Proyecto de Accion de los Suburbios del Oeste (West Suburban Action Project) is a community-based organization that works to engage community members to act through their faith and values to address issues that affect them, their families, and neighbors with the mission to build stronger communities.

The main issue-areas PASO currently works on are immigration, public safety, and education using community organizing, leadership development, and civic participation to provide the tools for members to develop their skills and use their own voices to be active participants in their communities.

P.A.S.O. is an institution- based organization, including Our Lady of Mt. Carmel, St. Charles Borromeo, St. John Vianney, and St. Simeon parishes as well as Nuestra Voz Youth Council. We serve the West Cook Suburbs, in the areas of Melrose Park, Stone Park, Maywood, Bellwood, and Northlake.


Reply all
Reply to author
Forward
0 new messages