By Brenda Lopez Romero
Impunity Watch Reporter, North America

WASHINGTON, D.C., United States – Last week marked the start of a new movement of students that are promoting the Dream Act.  Most of the student organizers are unique because they are undocumented.  The students see a link with the civil rights movement of African Americans and decided to start taking action during African American History Month.

This is definitely a new bolder movement.  As Nancy, media relations coordinator, from DREAM Team LA said, undocumented students are “willing to take the risk of putting ourselves out there and putting ourselves in danger, because for us it’s more of a risk to remain silent and not to speak about our realities and the everyday obstacles that we go through. Right now we are not afraid to speak up and to come out, because that’s what we need to do in order to be heard, in order to create change.”

A national umbrella organization, United We DREAM, coordinates some of the movement’s efforts and is run by many undocumented students who are affected.  They also see the timing of the events as parallel to the civil rights movement of the 1960s.  One of the DREAM Activist stated we “are constantly being denied certain rights in the U.S. and within our school campuses. We are fighting for our own humanity. A lot of tactics that we’re using as undocumented students are borrowed frameworks that were established in the 60’s with the civil rights movement.”  Furthermore, undocumented students are also victims of discriminatory law, segregation as a second class, and have been victims of violence and targeted crime including beatings and murder.

Tolu, from the National Immigration Law Center noted that the DREAM Act is not a Democratic or Republication issue; instead “it’s about finding a just and humane way for people who are in an untenable situation. It’s amazing what the students have been able to achieve even with this obstacle, imagine what they can do without that drawback. These are very passionate, involved, devoted, active, intelligent individuals and it would be a great loss to the country to give up on them. I believe that we’re better as a people having DREAMers amongst us and we would be a better country if we passed the Dream Act. It would affect the lives of hundreds of thousands, and we’ve put everything on the line to get this done.”

Longitudinal studies conclude activist young adults during the civil rights movement were more likely to be in leadership positions at all levels 20 years later.  We should expect the same from the DREAMers.

For more information, please see:

Indiana Daily Student – Students ‘DREAM’ for Congress to pass act – 24 February 2010

The Huffington Post – A New Civil Rights Movement: Undocumented Students for Immigration Reform – 24 February 2010

WSHV News – DREAM Act Advocates Lobby Congressmen – 24 February 2010