FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Media Contacts: Juan (407) 602-8675, Flavia de la Fuente (949) 910-6362 media@thedreamiscoming.com
DETAINED in Arizona: Four Student Immigrant Leaders
Peacefully Resist Current Immigration Law, Urge Passage of DREAM Act
As of 6:00 PM PST today, Mohammad, Yahaira, Lizbeth and Raul, an Arizona Resident, have been arrested and detained after their day long sit-in at Senator John McCains Office in Tucson, AZ. Tania, who was not detained, has been designated as spokesperson and will be relating the experiences/thoughts of the group during the action.
Senator John McCain offered the students a meeting in order to discuss the Dream Act, however, the students recognize that this is insufficient and that immediate action is needed to pass the DREAM Act!
Tucson, Arizona. May 17th, on the anniversary of landmark civil rights case Brown v. Board of Education, Arizona law enforcement arrested four undocumented leaders of the immigrant student movement in addition to Arizona native Raul Alcaraz. Lizbeth Mateo of Los Angeles, California; Tania Unzueta of Chicago, Illinois; Mohammad Abdollahi of Ann Arbor, Michigan; and Yahaira Carrillo of Kansas City, Missouri; were detained Tucson, Arizona, after staging a sit-in at Senator John McCain’s office. With this challenge to local and federal law, these youth hope to highlight the urgency of legislative action in Congress, and catalyze mass grassroots mobilization to pass the DREAM Act before June 15th.
These four leaders are risking deportation from the United States in the hope that this action will make a significant contribution to the fight for immigrant rights. In response to the onslaught of enforcement-based immigration law, they staged a sit-in at Senator McCain’s office, and urged congressional leadership to champion the DREAM Act and the values it represents: hard work, education, and fairness.
Lizbeth, 25, an organizer with DREAM Team Los Angeles, states, “There are already ten other states across the country considering immigration legislation similar to Arizona’s: legislation that is anti-family, anti-democratic, and anti-freedom. Police states and enforcement are quickly becoming the standard, and we are running out of time. We are going to pass the DREAM Act because it is based on freedom and equality.”
Mohammad, 24, co-founder of DreamActivist.Org, a resource web portal for undocumented students, said in a statement: “Never in our history has it been American to deny people their civil rights. We have decided to peacefully resist to encourage our leaders to pass the DREAM Act and create a new standard for immigration reform based on education, hard work, equality, and fairness.”
At least 65,000 undocumented immigrant youth graduate from high schools every year, and many of them struggle to attend institutes of higher education and the military. The DREAM Act will grant youth who traveled to the United States before the age of 16 a path to citizenship contingent on continuous presence in the country, good behavior, and the attainment of at least a two-year university degree or a two-year commitment to the armed forces.
“During the civil rights movement, African-American students were arrested for sitting down at lunch counters. We’ve been detained for standing on a sidewalk. We can’t wait any longer for the DREAM Act to pass,” said Tania, 26, co-founder of the Immigrant Youth Justice League, and immigrant rights organizer in Chicago.
All four are leaders in their own communities and have dedicated years to work for immigrant rights, legalization for undocumented immigrants, and the DREAM Act. “Dr. King spoke of a dream of equality overcoming fear. Well, the fierce urgency of our dreams has overcome any kind of fear we may have had before. We can’t wait,” concluded Yahaira, 25, a founder of the Kansas Missouri Dream Alliance.
Project by: Dream Team LA, ONE Michigan, Kansas Missouri Dream Alliance, and Immigrant Youth Justice League, coordinated by DREAMActivist.org. For more information, please visit www.thedreamiscoming.com
A very courageous and selfless act by these young people. Non-violent civil disobedience is the right way to expose institutional sin, gain public support and create change. I applaud you and pray for you. On another note, this is a great looking website!
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Come on! We must help these kids!!!!
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@Thomas Jones: Just because your family’s case went through just fine doesn’t mean the system is perfect. Congratulations, you did it. But the system is still broken and being called “Illegal” is just plain wrong, that’s how the system sees us. Some of us tried doing it the right way, hell, all my family are permanent residents and even US citizens, but in my case, I’m stuck in this shithole because the system is completely messed up.
To say Student Visas exist and to say there is the right way to do it is just plain ignorant of you. Once undocumented there’s no way of fixing it.
And last but not least, these students, and the rest of us, are here because our parents decided so, and as I said before, some of them tried doing it the right way, so why should we be the ones who are affected by this?
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@Thomas Jones & Tia, and whoever is clearly speaking from a position of power withough realizing it: Stop your hatred and racism, instead, be reflective on how much privilege has been bestowed upon you historically by mainstream society. Do something truly good for your “red/white & blue country” by first stopping to complain about how “much” you have to pay as a taxpayer. And yes, I’m a U.S. citizen, daughter of immigrant parents, formally educated in some of the best universities in the country, and clearly aware of my position of power and privilege. Did I mention that my parents are taxpayers as well as I? To the students who have not been able to realize their dreams as I have, hang in there and continue fighting for your basic right to get an education.
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Lot’s of people whine about how they came legally so why can’t everyone. The system is broken, messed up and manipulated. My family can’t even get a visa to visit me in the US let alone a permit to work! I digress.
I also agree there is a lot of injustice, but if it is my hands to help another human being repair something in their life then so be it. I will gladly lend a hand! These students should be role models for doing the impossible. I’m sure people probably told them , “No, don’t go to school, you’re useless in this country.” And despite that they’ve excelled and become educated leaders in our community! My argument is: What country WOULDN’T want them?
I’m starting to think people are afraid of educated people of color.
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I am the first time on this site and am really enthusiastic about and so many good articles. I think it’s just very good.
Always yours Mr. Cialis
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@Thomas Jones & Tia, and whoever is clearly speaking from a position of power withough realizing it: Stop your hatred and racism, instead, be reflective on how much privilege has been bestowed upon you historically by mainstream society. Do something truly good for your “red/white & blue country” by first stopping to complain about how “much” you have to pay as a taxpayer. And yes, I’m a U.S. citizen, daughter of immigrant parents, formally educated in some of the best universities in the country, and clearly aware of my position of power and privilege. Did I mention that my parents are taxpayers as well as I? To the students who have not been able to realize their dreams as I have, hang in there and continue fighting for your basic right to get an education.
+1
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Your dream will come true…Sure.
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