Grassroots Effort Halts Walter Lara's Deportation

by Dave Bennion · 2009-07-02 19:50:00 UTC
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From America's Voice comes great news today:

[A]fter a strong coordinated effort this week, led by Dream Activist.org and SEIU, to allow Walter Lara to stay in this country, we've scored an important victory. Walter was granted a one-year stay of deportation today.  The 23-year-old honor student will now get to spend this Fourth of July watching fireworks with his family in Florida instead of waiting to be deported to a country he's never known. Congratulations to everyone who worked to make this happen!

This was a effort initiated on the ground by local student organizers coordinating with the national Dream Graduation Day, then propelled through new media strategies by Dreamactivist.org and the SEIU.  There have been stories of other Dreamers that hit the mainstream, but none so forcefully, enlisting allies like Kos and Senator Bill Nelson.  This is not because Walter's story is unique--unfortunately, Walter's legal situation is all too common among ambitious undocumented youth.  But today's result gives me hope in a time when hope is in short supply.  Hope that the balance is tipping in favor of compassion and common sense.

Walter graciously thanked DHS Secretary Napolitano for exercising discretion to defer an action that made no sense to anyone--the deportation of an honor student who came to the U.S. at the age of three.  He also looks forward, calling for Congress to remember the others who could benefit from the DREAM Act:

But even as the dust settles on this tremendous personal victory, my sights are clearly set on the struggle ahead to build a long-term future for me and the more than 2 million like me whose lives may be cut short and dreams deferred.

The action taken by the leaders in Congress and the Department of Homeland Security is an acknowledgment that our immigration laws are broken. The DREAM Act, if passed, would help people like myself, who came here through no fault of their own, stay in this country, be put on a path to citizenship and contribute to our nation.

Congratulations, Walter, and thanks to all who worked to make this day possible!

Dave Bennion
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