June 30, 2009 3:11 PM
Guest blogger Charlene Obernauer is a youth organizer for a Hauppauge-based branch of Jobs with Justice. To jump to event info, scroll down.
When the majority of people in the United States think about so-called "illegal immigration", they picture a Mexican man crossing the border into the United States in the middle of the night. I don't have actual statistical numbers to back up this claim, but I do have the experience of growing up in Suffolk County, where the tensions over immigration sometimes boil to the surface.
The debate is often framed by stating that an undocumented immigrant "broke the law", and therefore needs to be punished like any other lawbreaker. (The Bush administration's violation of international law with the illegal invasion of Iraq and lack of prosecution immediately comes to mind when I think about lawbreakers, but that's another story). While I wholeheartedly disagree with the blame-the-immigrant discourse, one can surely ask, what about the children who came here with their parents?
Many children come here with their parents at the age of three or four, and grow up their entire lives without knowing that they are undocumented. They go to school, play with their friends, and eventually, they apply for a job. For many undocumented teens, this is the moment when they realize that they are undocumented. They ask their parents for their social security card and realize that they have none. Suddenly the reality hits them: they are undocumented. They can't work any job on the books, they can't drive a car, they aren't able to take out school loans, and most scholarships are denied to them.
There are 65,000 undocumented students who graduate from high school each year, but only a small fraction of these students go to college. In addition, there are over 50,000 undocumented college graduates in the United States who have beaten the many odds against them, managed to pay for school, and who still cannot work here legally. These students are some of the brightest in the country, had no choice in their entry into the U.S., and are living in the shadows, because our government does not have a sensible immigration policy.
In addition to calling for comprehensive immigration reform now, so that we stop deporting our most gifted students and workers, we also must call for the immediate passage of the DREAM Act. The bill would grant certain undocumented students a chance to either complete two years of college or complete two years in the military, and upon completion of either, would guarantee citizenship. The DREAM Act would also encourage undocumented high school students to continue their education, because if they do, they will be granted the citizenship that they—and all undocumented immigrants—deserve.
While we at Jobs with Justice are fighting tirelessly for the passage of the DREAM Act, we've also created a scholarship fund for undocumented students who are applying to college on Long Island. We will use this scholarship fund for undocumented students who have a commitment to immigrant rights work, and who are passionate about continuing to work with the immigrant community.
In support of the scholarship fund, we are hosting a Benefit Show in Manhattan this Friday night, July 3, from 7-11pm. Join us for a night of dancing, drinking, eating, and community, all in support of undocumented students with dreams deferred.
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Out of the Shadows and into the Streets Benefit Show
Friday, July 3, 2009
7:00-11:00pm
Sixth Street Community Center
638 E. 6th St., New York, NY
$5-$20, sliding scale
The show will feature music from The Last Internationale, Born in a Cent, Fesah Rollins, Colt, R-TRONIKA, special guests, and more!
Proceeds will go to the Equal Education and Employment Campaign of Long Island Jobs with Justice and the creation of scholarships for undocumented students attending college on Long Island. If you cannot attend, but still want to support the scholarship fund, email Charlene at humanrightssbu@aol.com. We need you!
(Photo by Dream Activist via Flickr)