NEWSDREAM ACT

On April 9th, Jose Melgar was on his way home from a trip to the grocery store with his mom and sister. Before reaching their house in Fort Myers, Florida, the family was surrounded by Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents who demanded to see their documents. Ana requested permission to retrieve documents from their home and asked officers if they had a warrant. But, without producing a warrant, they entered the Melgar home, ripping through belongings, while Ana got her paperwork.

Jose came to the United States with his family when he was 6 years old, escaping violence and terror in El Salvador. His mother, Ana, and his sister were both granted protected status, but Jose was not. Ana says that not only did officers ransack the family's belongings, they also beat Jose before arresting him -- and Ana's family is still not sure why.

Sign Adam Davis' petition calling for the Jose's release

Jose is now behind bars at Krome Detention Center, and Ana fears for his mental state. Jose was diagnosed with a mental disability while in school, and his family and friends worry that the combination of trauma from the arrest and beating alongside being held in prison might be too much for him. “My son, to this point, has done everything he can to go down the right track. He didn’t deserve to get detained, much less beaten, by ICE," says Ana.

Adam Davis, who started the petition calling for Jose's release, is part of a community project called the Collier County Neighborhood Stories project, which has the objective of collecting community testimonies regarding police-ICE encounters like Jose's. He says, "Considering the violence that was perpetrated against jose when he was detained, as well as his mental and physical condition, Jose should be freed on his own recognizance and retuned to the loving care of the family."

Jose, who would qualify for the DREAM Act, has a bond hearing on Tuesday, April 24th. Adam hopes that more supporters signing the petition will help. He and other advocates in Florida are also asking for phone calls to ICE requesting Jose's release.

From Adam:

Call ICE – John Morton @ 202.732.3000

Sample Script: “"Hi, I am calling to ask that Jose E. Lopez Melgar (A# 088-96-9036) be released from Krome Detention Center. Jose is a high school graduate with a mental disability. He should be released immediately on his own recognizance and returned to his family."

Sign Adam's petition asking for Jose's release - and then share it!

This week, Jennifer Lopez (the Dreamer, not the pop star) and her family received incredible news: the DREAM Act-eligible young woman who faced deportation was granted a reprieve after more than 38,000 people signed her petition on Change.org.

The campaign was started by a Florida-based youth organization called Students Working for Immigrant Rights and Manuel Guerra, a Dreamer who successfully fought his own deportation on Change.org and had never met Jennifer Lopez in person. Student activists say that under recent guidelines issued by the Department of Homeland Security, Lopez did not meet the criteria for deportation because she had no criminal background, was brought to the country as a young child, and continued to care for two critically ill and handicapped siblings, both of whom are U.S. citizens.

“Today is one of my best days ever,” said Jennifer Lopez, upon learning that her deportation would be canceled. “I'm very grateful for the opportunity to stay here with my family who needs me. They are everything to me. I know that this would not be happening without the help of Manuel Guerra and my lawyer Richard Hujber, organizations like Students Working For Immigrant Rights and United We Dream, and all the people who took their valuable time to read and sign my petition on Change.org. ”

Tomorrow, Dreamer David Zambrano could be ordered deported. He's 21 years old, has an associate's degree, and is working on a bachelors degree in Business Management. Florida has been his home since he was 13 years old, and he worked hard to learn English, graduate from high school, and pursue higher education. But after a minor traffic violation, David was arrested and turned over to Immigration and Customs Enforcement. He's been behind bars in Stewart Detention Center for over two months. And he could be deported this week.

Dream Activist - a migrant youth-led organization - started a petition asking ICE to release David and cancel his deportation, in conjunction with the department's new deportation guidelines. Nearly one thousand people have already stood with them to ask for David's freedom, but ICE is moving forward with his deportation orders. But David would qualify for the DREAM Act and should be considered eligible for discretion under the new guidelines announced by the Department of Homeland Security this year.

Bernabe Hernandez never let his undocumented status stand in the way of his success. He played right tackle for his high school football team and graduated in the top ten percent of his class. He dreamed of one day becoming an engineer.

Bernabe has been in custody at the Stewart Detention Center for over three months, and is being denied bond while he awaits his next court date. Local group Georgia Latino Alliance for Human Rights started a petition asking ICE and DHS to release Bernabe on bond.

He was only four years old when he was brought to the United States and Georgia has been home for over 16 years. Bernabe grew up in a tight-knit community in Long County, Georgia, one of those places where everybody knows your name because the community is so small. So when Bernabe was arrested during a night out with friends (after he rolled through a stop sign) the community immediately rallied around him.Under the new DHS guidelines for discretion, Bernabe should be allowed to stay in the United States. GLAHR wants to know: will ICE listen?

When he was 15, Cesar was told by his family that he was moving to the United States. The Montoya family was living in Mexico and Cesar's mother feared the violence and poverty in their home country, so she risked everything to give Cesar a brighter future. The Montoyas landed in Sturgis, Michigan, where Cesar grew up and graduated from Sturgis High School.

Cesar worked twice as hard as students who had grown up speaking English as their first language. He attended regular classes in the mornings and took on extra English as a Second Language (ESL) classes in the afternoon to be sure that he was learning the language as quickly as possible. When he graduated in 2010, he gas given an award for academic achievement. His mother's dreams of a brighter future for her son were coming true.

But on August 21st, Cesar was pulled over by local police for a minor traffic violation. During the routine stop, the officer learned that Cesar was undocumented - he was arrested and thrown into detention. Now, three months later, Cesar is still behind bars and his family is terrified he will be deported any day. Dream Activist has started a petition asking for Cesar's bond to be set so he can be released from the detention center and fight his case with the support of his family.

When Nosheen Dean visited her brother, Balal, in jail the day after he underwent surgery to remove masses from his chest, she promised him she would never stop fighting for him. Balal Parveez spent 10 months behind the bars of an immigrant detention center in Broward, Florida. Nosheen described the terrible conditions and lack of medical attention that kept him in a constant state of debilitating pain on her petition for Balal on Change.org. Now, after 10 excruciating months behind bars and almost 13,000 supporters signed his petition, Balal Parveez is back home with his family in Long Island. Nosheen kept her promise, and she continues to fight to make sure his papers come through.

Immigration and Customs Enforcement finally released Balal according to Department of Homeland Security guidelines for  prosecutorial discretion. And while Balal and his family are still fighting his deportation case, his release is a huge relief for the family, who had watched his health deteriorate behind bars, and a huge step towards victory. Thanks to the tireless efforts of Balal's sister Nosheen, strong advocates like Juan Rodriguez at SWER and United We Dream, and the 13,000 people who spoke out and signed his petition on Change.org, Balal is safely home with his family today.

Nosheen says, "We are overwhelmed and overjoyed to have Balal back home with our family in Long Island, after ten long months of struggling to get him out of detention. This moment would not have been possible without the support of Students Working for Equal Rights and the tens of thousands of people who signed Balal's petition on Change.org. Thank you, and you can't imagine what this means to us, to have Balal home to help him recover his health with his wife and family taking care of him, instead of alone and depressed in a jail cell. Today our despair has turned to joy and gratitude."

"When are you coming home?" That's the question that four year old Noah Orellano asks each time he speaks to his father, Miguel, on the phone. Noah hasn't seen his dad since July, when Immigration and Customs Enforcement officers handcuffed and arrested him - all in front of Noah. Each time Noah asks "When are you coming home?", his mom, Jessica Winkler is heartbroken. "He's OK during the day. When it's just me and him, like, that's all he talks about. It's, 'When is daddy coming home?' What are you supposed to say? It's not like we know," says Jessica.

Miguel was brought to the United States when we was only 5 years older than Noah. His family fled widespread violence and poverty in El Salvador. Originally, they were granted Temporary Protected Status - El Salvador was ravaged by a civil war and many of those who sought refuge here were protected under our laws. Miguel grew up in the United States. For most of his life, he was like any other American kid living here. That all changed in July when he was arrested. Now, he sits in jail awaiting deportation while his family tries desperately to keep him in the country he calls home.

Now, the national student network DreamActivist has launched a petition asking that Miguel, who they argue would qualify for the DREAM Act, be released so he can fight his case from home. Not only do Noah and Jessica depend on him at home, but he is expecting a new child with Jessica in the coming months. DreamActivist is determined for Miguel to be home for the birth of his new baby. Under the new guidelines for discretion that the Department of Homeland Security announced this year, they argue that Miguel should be allowed to stay in the country.

Today, thousands of California students woke up and saw possibilities that didn’t exist before: the possibility to become tech sector leaders, environmental problem solvers, business owners, and to forge a better future for the state they call home. This is because the second half of the California Dream Act (AB131) was signed into law on Saturday, allowing undocumented students who have grown up in California a chance to apply for financial aid and attend college.

The measure faced some daunting obstacles—but more than 12,400 people signed the petition on Change.org started by leaders of the California Dream Network—and they followed that up with phone calls, petition deliveries, and rallies. What seemed like a remote possibility just one month ago has become law. Victory!

The passage of the California Dream Act represents a significant investment in the state, which was expecting to face a shortage of one million bachelor’s degree holders by 2025. Coupled with pending federal DREAM Act legislation that would provide pathways to the workforce, we can expect new business leaders that will create jobs and contribute to sectors where college graduates are badly needed.

Last Monday, David Morales stood up in front of a crowd gathered in Salt Lake City and told his story. On his way to Bible college in Louisiana, the aspiring pastor was pulled from his Greyhound bus, questioned by ICE, and thrown in jail for over two weeks. Now, nearly one year later, Morales faces a court date on October 6th that will decide whether he can remain in the community he has given so much to.

Brought to the United States when he was just 9 years old, Morales excelled in school, volunteered in his community, and found a passion for ministry. He was the first person in his family to graduate from high school and his dreams of an even higher degree have been stalled by the injustice of our broken immigration system.

When asked why Morales should be allowed to stay in the United States, Raymi Gutierrez, part of the Salt Lake City Dream Act group that started a petition to keep Morales home, responded: "David is a kind, caring and courageous individual. He has a love for community service. He is a DREAMer and he is not a threat to this country. The U.S. Government needs to stop deporting DREAMers like David, DREAMers who can contribute more to this society if only they were given a chance to start a path towards citizenship to gain higher education."

Astrid Silva and Jamie Alegre are both students and DREAM activists but they’d never met, never spoken, never lived in the same city, and certainly never met each other’s parents. But, on September 20th, Jamie came across an urgent plea on Facebook asking for help for Astrid’s dad, who had been detained and placed in deportation proceedings. Jamie took initiative and decided to launch a campaign on Change.org. Two days -- and 594 signatures -- later, Astrid’s dad came home.

The connection came via a friend of Astrid’s whose post asking for help to stop the deportation of Cesar Carlos Silva had been shared online. Jamie came across the message and was immediately moved to reply. She shared all the information she knew about fighting deportations, but then realized that most of what she was familiar with in her home state of California wouldn’t be helpful to the Silva family because they live in Nevada. But the deportation was set for Thursday.  And it was already Tuesday.

Feeling that she couldn’t sit and do nothing knowing a family was set to be torn apart in just a matter of days, Jamie decided to start the family's petition on Change.org. “I [had] never written a petition,” she says. “But I knew that it was the only effective way I could get more support to stop Mr. Silva's deportation. I started one anyway.” Immediately after launching, Jamie sent the link to everyone she knew.

The next morning, the young DREAM activist woke up and checked online: The petition had received more than 100 signatures in one night. She received a call from Astrid’s friend who had seen it: Could Jamie gather more signatures by noon on Wednesday so that they could be printed and delivered personally to Immigration and Customs Enforcement headquarters in Nevada?