The Failure of Reform Immigration for America: Time for the DREAM Act

So, we all wait, and wait, and wait even longer for the DREAM Act to have its chance.

The DREAM Act is a narrowly tailored, bipartisan measure which would create a pathway to citizenship for undocumented youth who have grown up in the United States, graduated from high school or obtained a GED and gone on to attend college or join the military.

A little over a year ago, the DREAM Act (S. 729 and H.R. 1751) was introduced as a stand-alone bill, and it was championed by mostly youth groups and passage was pushed.  In June 2009, under the umbrella of Reform Enforcement Immigration for America, a conglomerate of organizations (largely DC based) began laying the groundwork for a long, disastrous campaign to push their version of “immigration reform” onto the masses.

From 2007, even before the CIR bill was introduced campaign officially kicked off, immigrant youth were told to hold off on the DREAM Act.  We were told, point blank, that if we advocated for the DREAM Act we would be killing a larger reform package.  That by merely sharing our stories, we would be activating the anti-immigrant sentiment in the country and doing harm to everyone, including our parents.  We were shamed, called selfish, and ridiculed at every turn.  But through it all we managed to pull through with an an amazing movement to boot.  Where we were denied a seat at a table, we created our own table and, as youth, we reclaimed our own movement.  We are no longer dependent on privileged, usually white, out-of-touch organizers to do our bidding or for that matter even speak for us.  What does it tell you about your movement when the speakers don’t even represent the issue at hand?!  We can speak for ourselves.

Two years later with little to no funding and a completely undocumented and volunteer-run network we have accomplished so much, including:

• A bill
• 39 co-sponsors in the senate and 120 in the house
• Dozens of deferred action for individual dream act students
• An online presence which trumps that of any pro or anti immigrant group
• 60,000 people on Facebook and 40,000 on our general list, a list comprised mostly of young people ready to work for the DREAM
• A strong network covering almost 30 states and presence in the rest

And the list continues.

All of this done with minimal money when compared to the $100,000,000 plus millions the Reform Enforcement Immigration for America campaign has received and spent.  And yet, we as the Dreamers are still told to wait, that it isn’t our time yet.  That we need to continue to push for a larger enforcement package, that if we were to push the DREAM Act, or piecemeal legislation, then we kill all the hope for a larger package.  Not to burst any bubbles but pieces of legislation have been passing for a while now.  SB1070 is just the latest piece in that collective.  Obama is sending troops to the border. While we sit around and fight each other, the Republicans are using an effective piecemeal approach: get anything you can and push for the large package only if it’s convenient.

We are at a fork in the road right now. If we continue to go the way we are going we will get neither the DREAM Act or any form of reform.  Our communities will suffer another defeat at the hands of people who are in it just for a pay-check, who are waiting to get invited to the next meeting in D.C., and have little regard for what is happening to our families and our youth.  A (not-so) wise man from within the Reform Immigration for America campaign recently caught me by surprise when he told me, during a semi-private phone call where I was berated for still pushing DREAM,  flat-out, “who says our communities need a win this year?”

Yes, you read it right.  The mantra that these people are working off of is “who says our communities need a win this year?!”

The immigrant youth want a win this year and are willing to do everything that needs to happen to get the win.  We are willing to put ourselves on the front lines as we have all the years past.  We are willing to walk 1500 miles.  We are willing to go on an indefinite hunger strike.  We are willing to conduct sit-ins at congressional and campaign offices and put ourselves into deportation proceedings. We are willing to risk deportation.

So that brings me back to the fork in the road. We have two options right now: either we continue to play this waiting and pandering game to these groups that want nothing to do with us and care nothing about our futures, or we take a risk, we take a stand, and we push for the DREAM Act to pass as a stand alone bill.

Over the last month we have had a number of escalating actions.  These have taken place in the offices of non-supporting senators (Senator McCain -R AZ), supporting senators (Senator Feinstein -D CA) and our so-called allies (Luis Gutierrez -D IL).  Soon we’ll add a few DC based ‘advocacy’ organizations to the list.  If the message is not clear yet, lets try and clear it up.  We, as youth, are not afraid of a challenge.  Everyone should be on notice: if you are not making the DREAM Act happen as a stand-alone bill, then you are a roadblock to DREAM, and we are going to call you out in a very public way.  If you won’t willingly take a stand to fight for our lives, then we’ll bring the moral crisis to your doorstep.

Our parents have waited too long and we have waited too long.  The time for the DREAM Act is now.

We are willing.  We are ready. We won’t wait.  You haven’t heard our thunder yet!

Author: Mohammad Abdollahi is a co-founder of DreamActivist and one of the students in deportation after a sit-down at John McCain’s office last month. Visit thedreamiscoming.com for more information and updates.

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