Hello from Austin!

VeganDreamer · 03-27-2009, 12:40 AM

Hello everyone.

I am new to this site, but have been working with other groups to advance the DREAM Act. I am very excited about the reintroduction of the bill and the fact that so many of us are working so hard to get this done.

Of course, I am also a Dreamer. I was born in Mexico and arrived in the U.S. at the age of 9. I have a B.A. in history and am working on my M.Ed.. I will finish this fall.

I have called and emailed senators all afternoon and it is very easy. Please, everyone, do this as well. Call, fax, email, ... senators and representatives. I was happy that some senators' voicemails were full when I called, hopefully it was DREAM Act supporters.

Continue with the fight. Our hard work has brought us this far, keep fighting. Hasta la victoria siempre.

angeleno · 03-27-2009, 12:50 AM

*high fives you*

Welcome home, fellow vegan.

ehfornue · 03-27-2009, 12:57 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by VeganDreamer

Hello everyone.

I am new to this site, but have been working with other groups to advance the DREAM Act. I am very excited about the reintroduction of the bill and the fact that so many of us are working so hard to get this done.

Of course, I am also a Dreamer. I was born in Mexico and arrived in the U.S. at the age of 9. I have a B.A. in history and am working on my M.Ed.. I will finish this fall.

I have called and emailed senators all afternoon and it is very easy. Please, everyone, do this as well. Call, fax, email, ... senators and representatives. I was happy that some senators' voicemails were full when I called, hopefully it was DREAM Act supporters.

Continue with the fight. Our hard work has brought us this far, keep fighting. Hasta la victoria siempre.

CHE' - Hasta la victoria siempre!
We must fight for our right to belong, we must fight for our education and practice/teach/share our knowledge, we must fight to be recognized as a human being.
CHE' - "Un pueblo que no sabe leer y escribir, es un pueblo fácil de engañar."

DREAM2oo7 · 03-27-2009, 01:33 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by VeganDreamer

Hello everyone.

I am new to this site, but have been working with other groups to advance the DREAM Act. I am very excited about the reintroduction of the bill and the fact that so many of us are working so hard to get this done.

Of course, I am also a Dreamer. I was born in Mexico and arrived in the U.S. at the age of 9. I have a B.A. in history and am working on my M.Ed.. I will finish this fall.

I have called and emailed senators all afternoon and it is very easy. Please, everyone, do this as well. Call, fax, email, ... senators and representatives. I was happy that some senators' voicemails were full when I called, hopefully it was DREAM Act supporters.

Continue with the fight. Our hard work has brought us this far, keep fighting. Hasta la victoria siempre.

Hey welcome! I am from San Antonio yay! thanks for calling!

C-Zar · 03-27-2009, 01:38 AM

hey welcome...i'm from texas also!! keep the effort up...

JGuevara1986 · 05-16-2009, 12:59 PM

Ain't nothing like Texas

deftbeta · 05-16-2009, 01:11 PM

I'm kind of late on these news but UT-Austin just passed a resolution stating SG support for the DREAM Act. Add another undergraduate student body at one of the biggest Universities in the States to the supporters, now for the University Administration Support.

Quote:

AR4 In Support of the DREAM Act

Author: Marisol Medrano, Melessa Rodriguez, Jose Torres
Sponsor: Representatives Nathan Bunch, Alex Ferraro, Andy Jones, Amanda Lopez, Tarryn O’Dell, Melessa Rodriguez, Jimmy Talarico, Jason Wang,
Thaddeus Scott Woody

Overview

WHEREAS, The Development, Relief, and Education for Alien Minors (DREAM) Act is a bipartisan piece of legislation that addresses the situation of denied accessibility of higher education to young people who were brought to the United States as undocumented immigrant children ; and

WHEREAS, The University of Texas at Austin is the flagship institution of The University of Texas System, and with over 47,000 students in spring 2009, is the largest institution of higher education in the State of Texas ; and

WHEREAS, A 2007 estimate by the Center for Immigration Studies showed over 3.4 million immigrants living in Texas, nearly one third of whom are estimated to live in the state illegally ; and

WHEREAS, Many of the roughly one million illegal immigrants living in Texas are surely college-aged, and could benefit from studying at The University of Texas at Austin ; and

WHEREAS, The University of Texas at Austin seeks to provide a quality education to all students and potential studentsiv; and

WHEREAS, In 2001, Texas became the first state to pass a law allowing state high school graduates who immigrated to the United States to pay resident tuition at public universities, effectively allowing them to attend The University of Texas at Austin (HB 1403) ; and

WHEREAS, The passage of HB 1403 has led nine more states to acknowledge the importance of this issue by passing similar laws, and other state legislatures currently have bills pending ; and

WHEREAS, The DREAM Act, a bipartisan piece of legislation, has been introduced as S.729 in the Senate and has garnered wide bipartisan support crossing geographic boundaries and thusly merits the strong backing of the U.S. House and Senate leadership, including all relevant committee chairs, as well as President Obama ; and

An Earned Opportunity

WHEREAS, The DREAM Act is relevant to the roughly 65,000 undocumented immigrants who graduate from high school each year, having lived in the United States five years or longerviii; and

WHEREAS, Many beneficiaries of in-state tuition bills graduate each year from prestigious universities in the United States, but lack their citizenship status and remain largely unemployed ; and

WHEREAS, The Dream Act would address the dilemma faced by these students who immigrated to the United States before the age of 16, lived in the country for at least five consecutive years prior to the enactment of the act, graduated from high school or earned a GED, “maintained good moral character”, and have been accepted for admission to an institution of higher education in the United States to apply for "conditional lawful permanent resident" status ; and

WHEREAS, The act would allow for an adjustment in resident status from undocumented to legal permanent resident status on a conditional basis for six years, during which an undocumented immigrant would be required to either earn a degree from a two- or four-year institution and or join the military for at least two years while maintaining “good moral character”vii; and

Economic Benefits of the DREAM Act

WHEREAS, A RAND study showed that immigrants who are given the opportunity to graduate from college can be fiscally beneficial to our economy, contributing over $9,000 in taxes every year. The study indicated that a 30-year-old immigrant who graduates from college will pay $5,300 more in taxes and cost $3,900 less in government expenses each year than if the immigrant had dropped out of high school ; and

WHEREAS, Denying these students the opportunity to enter the American workforce sends all immigrant students a contradictory message about the importance of graduating from high school and pursuing higher education, which results in a waste of the investment that the states have already made in the K-12 and college education of immigrant student populations ; and

WHEREAS, It is imperative for the state of Texas to continue encouraging students, regardless of immigration status, to strive for higher education as Texas led the nation in giving immigrant students the opportunity to attend institutions of higher learningxiii; and

WHEREAS, According to NILC, at the national level, “Once legalized, DREAM Act beneficiaries would be in a position to help fill some chronic long-term labor needs that economists predict will threaten our economy if not addressed in the coming decades, including teachers, nurses, and service employees. The DREAM Act would benefit the economy of Texas and other states by significantly increasing the income of affected immigrants, thereby stimulating spending and investment”xii; therefore

BE IT RESOLVED, That the Student Government of The University of Texas at Austin strongly supports the passage of the DREAM Act, which would remove the barriers preventing qualified students from working legally or completing their education.

BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED, That the Student Government of The University of Texas at Austin believes that the passage of the DREAM Act could increase diversity at The University of Texas at Austin and would allow more students from the University of Texas at Austin to enter the Texas workforce as bilingual and bicultural professionals.

BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED, That the Student Government of The University of Texas at Austin strongly supports the passage of the DREAM Act, and recognizes that the cumulative and positive impact of the DREAM Act on the economy could amount to significant economic benefits.

BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED, That the Student Government of The University of Texas at Austin will serve as a proactive advocate of education for all immigrant students by strongly encouraging the passage of the DREAM Act.

BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED, That a copy of this Resolution be sent to the Office of the President, the Office of the Vice President of Student Affairs, the Office of the Dean of Students, the Texas Congressional Delegation, United States House of Representatives and Senate Judiciary Committees, and United States House of Representatives Committee on Education and Labor, and sponsors of legislation in the U.S. House and Senate.

emmjay · 05-18-2009, 03:20 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by VeganDreamer

Hello everyone.

I am new to this site, but have been working with other groups to advance the DREAM Act. I am very excited about the reintroduction of the bill and the fact that so many of us are working so hard to get this done.

Of course, I am also a Dreamer. I was born in Mexico and arrived in the U.S. at the age of 9. I have a B.A. in history and am working on my M.Ed.. I will finish this fall.

I have called and emailed senators all afternoon and it is very easy. Please, everyone, do this as well. Call, fax, email, ... senators and representatives. I was happy that some senators' voicemails were full when I called, hopefully it was DREAM Act supporters.

Continue with the fight. Our hard work has brought us this far, keep fighting. Hasta la victoria siempre.

Woohoo for veganism

questionsihave · 05-19-2009, 05:21 PM

Austin is the liberal hub of Texas, so it isn't surprising that UTAustin will support the DA. I wish we could get UH to pass such a resolution.

deftbeta · 05-19-2009, 06:42 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by questionsihave

Austin is the liberal hub of Texas, so it isn't surprising that UTAustin will support the DA. I wish we could get UH to pass such a resolution.

From my talks with people (Nathan/Marisol) involved it wasn't an easy thing to do. This should be being pursued at every campus there are DREAMies. We should work on this w/ UH though. Is it even being pursued by any organizations at UH? Individuals at UH? The peeps from Austin (University Leadership Initiative) can forward us all their work for it and summaries of the events that led to this. I don't attend UH but am willing to help out with this and there are members here that do attend and should be willing to help out as well.

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Hello from Austin!