Thread: CA - Young Immigrants Rally At Border Wall For ‘Clean’ Dream Act

Wednesday, February 7, 2018

By City News Service, Jean Guerrero


Above: A group of undocumented immigrants, DACA recipients and allies march through Border Field State Park, Feb. 7, 2018.

Nearly 50 immigrants and activists marched to the existing U.S.-Mexico border fencing between San Diego and Tijuana on Wednesday to urge Congress to protect the Dreamers, immigrants brought to the country illegally as children.

"We want to make sure that we let people know that we're not willing to be used as bargaining chips," said Fernanda Madrigal, a 29-year-old immigrant who was brought to the U.S. illegally as a child. Madrigal is one of thousands of such immigrants who has DACA — a temporary protected status set to expire in March after the Trump administration decided to dismantle it.

Last month, President Trump said he would approve a path to citizenship for nearly two million Dreamers in exchange for border wall funding. But the protesters are demanding a "clean Dream act."

Madrigal said a bill to protect Dreamers that includes provisions for increased border security enforcement will only push young immigrants further "into the shadows."

Congress has been unable to reach an agreement to protect the Dreamers because of a tug of war between those who want border wall funding to be part of the bill, and those who don't.

The 3 p.m. rally began at Border Field State Park and ended near the International Friendship Park at the border fence. It came on the eve of a deadline for Congress to pass a spending bill for the country, with immigration issues a factor in the negotiations between Republicans and Democrats.

While the Senate approved a comprehensive spending bill on Wednesday, some Democrats in the House said they would not give the bill a green light unless Republicans promised to commit to begin talks to protect the Dreamers.

According to the Seed Project, a campaign of the pro-immigration group Movimiento Cosecha, the march toward the existing border barrier "is being used to highlight what is already in place that serves to separate undocumented communities."

"On the eve of this deadline, it is important to remind people that we are fighting for more than legislation, but for the recognition of our humanity," said Karla Estrada, founder of UndocuTravelers. "We are here to uplift the stories of our community and to face the wall that has caused pain to countless people. The wall that will determine the lives of immigrant youth and many immigrants to come."

During the march and rally, DACA recipients and other immigrants shared their stories and the stories of young immigrants who have already been deported. The stories highlighted what organizers called the "cruel and outdated immigration system" and the way "undocumented youth are being used as a tool in Congress to increase enforcement."

"Undocumented youth will continue, now more than ever, demanding that Democrats hold the line, grow courage and say #NoDreamNoDeal," said Madrigal, who's part of the Seed Project. "Undocumented youth are at risk of detention and deportation even despite having DACA."

Movimiento Cosecha, the group promoting the Seed Project campaign, advocates for the permanent protection of all immigrants living in the country illegally, not just those protected under DACA. It's a position that seems extreme in the current polarized immigration battle, but was welcomed even by conservative Republicans just a few decades ago.

"I will not be a bargaining chip and throw my community deeper into the shadows or for families to be separated — the time to act is now," said Barbara Hernandez, a DACA recipient from the Seed Project. "We need permanent protection, not only for the youth but for all 11 million undocumented immigrants in this country."

http://www.kpbs.org/news/2018/feb/07...rt-immigrants/

Milad Torabi, who is a 'dreamer' chants as he and others march toward the border to urge Congress to pass a Clean Dream Act at Border Field State Park in San Diego on Wednesday. (Hayne Palmour IV / San Diego Union-Tribune)

February 7, 2018
Kate Morrissey Kate MorrisseyContact Reporter

About 30 so-called “dreamers” and their supporters marched to the border fence at Friendship Park on Wednesday afternoon to call on Congress to pass a bill to protect the young unauthorized immigrants from deportation.

People who participated in an Obama-era program called Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals, or DACA, have been rallying, lobbying and demonstrating since President Donald Trump announced the end of the program in September. Trump gave Congress six months — until March 2018 — to pass a legislative solution for DACA recipients before the program ended completely.

"He's a dream killer," said Dulce Garcia, a DACA recipient and immigration attorney as the group shared stories in a circle on the beach near the border fence. "He's bargaining for our lives, our livelihoods in exchange for our parents. That's un-American. Our president is un-American."

The group held signs calling for a bill with no additional immigration enforcement measures and chanted as they marched. Border Patrol agents, California State Park officials and Federal Wildlife officers monitored the demonstrators, standing between the group and the fence.

People in Tijuana pressed their faces against the slats in the barricade to watch the procession.

The DACA program issued two-year renewable permits to unauthorized immigrants brought to the U.S. as children, allowing them to work and protecting them from deportation, provided that they met certain education requirements and passed background checks.

Democrats and some Republicans have hoped to leverage a government spending bill to get a solution passed that would offer DACA recipients, or a wider group of “dreamers,” a pathway to citizenship. Conservatives who favor immigration restrictionist policies have tried to include legislation that would increase enforcement.

Trump tweeted that any bill protecting DACA recipients that didin’t fund his proposed border wall would be “a total waste of time.”

The resulting stalemate shut down the federal government for a long weekend in January before Congress passed a temporary funding bill for a third time, punting a DACA decision to Feb. 8.

The wait has left DACA recipients in a limbo that many say has caused them anxious uncertainty for months.

"This time is such a tumultuous and mentally taxing thing," said Ali Torabi, a DACA recipient from Iran. He called his mother who brought him here the "original dreamer."

"They're calling her a criminal for that," Torabi said. "That's the reality we have as dreamers. We're forced to choose between the safety of our family members and our own futures."

About a dozen bills that include protections for DACA recipients have been introduced in Congress, with some having counterparts in both chambers. None of the bills have been brought to a vote.

Senate leaders reportedly struck an agreement on a long-term spending bill on Wednesday that would not include a solution for DACA recipients.

In the House, minority leader Nancy Pelosi gave an eight hour speech in support of "dreamers."

Fernanda Madrigal, a DACA recipient from Costa Rica who organized the rally, said that gives her hope that the dreamer movement is having an effect.

She's not disappointed that there hasn't been legislation yet, she said. It fuels her fight.

http://www.sandiegouniontribune.com/...207-story.html

"They're calling her a criminal for that," Torabi said. "That's the reality we have as dreamers. We're forced to choose between the safety of our family members and our own futures."

------------------------------------------------

Sorry you illegal alien criminal trespasser! U.S. citizens are fighting for the safety and future of OUR country, our families and our children.

Out you go! Take your signs and go home and protest to change your country on YOUR soil.

We are a Nation of Laws...get out and get in line like the 2 billion people on the planet that "dream" of coming here!

Go find some other country to DUMP YOURSELF on! Canada has plenty of vacancy!

It is a shame and a disgrace that foreign citizens illegally here feel such protection and bravery to march and make demands of our government and citizens. It is an even greater disgrace to enable these socialist troublemakers.

Amnesty will create more of this. Foreign governments and citizens gain a stronger foothold into America and increase their power. Lawmakers who submit to this are to be rejected and voted out.

It is always something with these people. There will always be some poor soul who needs to be an exception to the rule. That is why we have laws. THE BOTTOM LINE SHOULD BE IF YOU ARE HERE ILLEGALLY, YOU SHOULD LEAVE OR BE REMOVED BY FORCE - NO EXCEPTIONS.