Youths rally for education rights

Eleazar Palomo holds a sign at a rally to denounce proposals in the Oklahoma legislature related to immigration requirements for higher education. RIP STELL / for theTulsa World


By DAVID HARPER World Staff Writer
Published: 4/10/2011 2:35 AM
Last Modified: 4/10/2011 5:34 AM

"Education not deportation" was the rallying cry heard in east Tulsa on Saturday from groups who are fighting to keep their dream alive.

Members of United We DREAM and DREAM Act Oklahoma held an event at the Plaza Santa Cecilia, 2160 S. Garnett Road, to let their voices be heard on the issue of higher education for all.

Carlos Saavedra told the emotional, boisterous crowd that gathered under a hot, springtime sun that "we're the Davids of this country" who are pitted against the institutional Goliath intent on denying them a better life through education.

Saavedra is the national field coordinator with United We DREAM Network - a national immigrant youth-led organization whose mission is to achieve equal access to higher education for all people, regardless of immigration status.

Ernesto Caballero, a 20-year-old University of Tulsa junior studying petroleum engineering, said he is documented but added he is proud to take up the cause of his undocumented friends.

"There are people out there who don't want to see us united," Caballero said. "This is our struggle together and together we can accomplish this. We're making history and for that I feel very blessed."

However, that historical road has taken a few detours recently. The DREAM Act - the proposed federal law which would give conditional residency to illegal immigrant students who arrived in the country as minors if they graduate from high school and pursue a college education or military service - was blocked by a U.S. Senate filibuster in December.

The measure, which allows the students permanent residency after a 10-year waiting period if they meet certain requirements, was first introduced in Washington nearly a decade ago and its advocates are not about to give up on the idea.

This weekend, dozens of United We DREAM members from Arkansas, Louisiana, Kansas, Missouri, and Texas have joined their Oklahoma counterparts in Tulsa for a three-day conference meant to strengthen leadership skills and develop strategies to advance the cause of undocumented students. They have been meeting at TU and drove over to east Tulsa for Saturday's event.

Miro Heyink, a 21-year-old Kansas City, Kan., resident, said he was born in Germany and is now a citizen of the U.S.

Still, he said that foreign nationals deserve a fair chance at a better life regardless of their citizenship status.

"The people you are looking at here are tomorrow's leaders," Heyink said.

Besides the DREAM Act, there was also talk at Saturday's rally about proposals in the Oklahoma Legislature regarding immigration enforcement.

The Rev. Victor Orta, a local Hispanic affairs activist, said Oklahoma seems determined to be the state with the most inhumane immigration laws.

Orta encouraged the high-spirited youths on hand to hang in there in their quest.

"This is not over yet," Orta said. "In fact, this is just the beginning."

Caballero, who said his father was recently deported to El Salvador, said "our people have heart. No matter what, they can't kill it."

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