12 million people is a greater number than the population of most states in the United States, that would be an epic statement, but the logistics behind it would make it next to impossible to pull off, its just such a massive number.

I think the issue is that the are looking at the numbers, and numbers do not say anything about the people, they need more stories, they need to see who we are and what we do.

It is easier to say no to 1 million people than it is to say no to someone whose story they know and whose hardships they are familiar with.

Its not our fault CIR or DA did not pass, instead, its the activism and bringing forth our stories that we even managed to get the DA voted on last semester and win the house for the first time, we have not been this close, only 5 votes and it would have been a reality. Our stories have also been the biggest push in causing changes in legislation to go in our favor. States that pass anti-immigration laws observe economic hardship due to a story like the one of a 6 year old afraid to go to school because they are afraid of being discriminated against, and you start seeing states pushing for more pro-immigration laws and increasing international support toward those states.

Having more people active will of course help, and we are seeing a change in the direction that ICE is taking, unfortunately, they seem to be targeting the communities that they know will be less likely to talk, and the groups that are going to be in greatest risk (those whose asylum petition failed, a few have been deported, and some have been killed as a result).

What we need to do is move this issue away from being a political issue, which is how politicians treat it, and into a civil rights or human rights issue, and I think considering the people's lives are in play it can be a human rights issue, and the laws that are passing discriminating against people based on how they look is a civil rights issue.