On the Eve of the DREAM Act Vote, Rallies and Vigils Across the Country

With the DREAM Act expected to be voted on in both the Senate and the House tomorrow, and the number of secure votes falling just short of what it needs to pass, organizers are pulling out all the stops to win over that last bit of support. Staging on-the-ground rallies and vigils held across the country, from D.C. and New York City to Kansas and Iowa, paired with online calls to sign petitions, send faxes, and call members of Congress, advocates are doing their utmost to secure the passage of the DREAM Act during the lame duck session, before the anti-immigrant-elect take their seats.

The movement, and the fact that the legislation has gotten this close to success, is a testament to the power of the grassroots, and specifically, the youth-led grassroots. The DREAM Act would provide a path to earned legalization through college attendance or military service for young people brought to America as minors. In many cases, these organizers, these advocates being referenced are themselves DREAM-eligible youth. Many of them are college students, or even high schoolers, who know that their chance at college access, military service, and being able to work and contribute in society relies on the passage of the DREAM Act.  Just last week, I attended a rally in Times Square, New York City, and was struck by how young many of the DREAM Activists were — and how passionate, articulate, and well-organized. We are lucky to have such an example.

The young people, the teenagers involved in organizing for the DREAM Act manage to run an advocacy campaign while keeping up their grades. Julianne Hing writes in Colorlines about one of the hunger strikers, Lucy Martinez, pressuring former supporter Texas Senator Kay Bailey Hutchison to vote "yes" on the DREAM Act: "By day she and other DREAMers are on the Hill lobbying senators, and by night they gather together to study." Facing finals exams in a week is stressful enough without being able to binge on junk food — or, more to the point, eat anything for 27 days — while simultaneously lobbying for a bill that would utterly change her opportunities for the future.

I am honored to support youth like Martinez and the other activities fighting for their dreams. Many of have been here since before they can remember and are American to the core. Through individual campaigns that have reaped thousands upon thousands of signatures, we've gotten many DREAM-eligible youth out of detention, their deportations deferred. It's obvious in these cases that the class presidents, the Homecoming Kings, the aspiring musicians with a fondness for oldies like "Stand by Me" are as American as apple pie, that they don't deserve to be imprisoned and have their lives torn away for something that happened when they were children. It's time to fix the system.

Please sign this petition to tell your Congresspeople to vote for the DREAM Act. The petition page also has a call-in script and list of names and phone numbers for some of the wobbly members of Congress, so that you can take another step to voice your support.

Photo credit: Korean Resource Center

GOT A TIP FOR US? Is there a story or campaign in your area that we'd want to know about? E-mail us at immigrationtips@change.org. Please also follow Change.org's Immigrant Rights page on Facebook and Twitter.