Local initiatives inspired by DREAM -- NY

http://www.nydailynews.com/ny_local/...fulfilled.html

César Vargas is 26 and eager to carve out a future for himself and to contribute his considerable talents to the city and country he loves.

A New Yorker through and through who grew up in Brooklyn and now lives in Staten Island, Vargas is a recent CUNY School of Law graduate who achieved an impressive 3.8 grade-point average. He is serious, responsible and hardworking, exactly the kind of positive person America needs to embrace.

Yet thanks to a combination of political opportunism, prejudice and outright racism, what he has found is rejection. Like thousands of other decent, intelligent young people in New York, Vargas, who was born in Puebla, Mexico, and brought to Brooklyn when he was 5, is undocumented.

"I have received several job offers, including some from government agencies, but I cannot take them," Vargas said without a trace of bitterness in his voice.

His hopes echo those of many other young people like him: to be accepted as a full-fledged member of American society and to be able to pursue his dreams.

But those hopes were cruelly dashed last December when the U.S. Senate failed to pass the DREAM Act. The legislation, which was approved by the House, would have given deserving undocumented students and recent graduates such as Vargas a chance to legalize their situations.

It was a shortsighted, mean-spirited vote that harmed not only the students but the nation as a whole, which is being deprived of these young peoples' energy and talent.

"It is frustrating; it has been a long struggle for the DREAM Act," Vargas said. "But something that distinguishes us is the unity 'Dreamers' have. We have been crushed but we keep going on."

Declaring themselves "unafraid, undocumented and unapologetic," the New York State Youth Leadership Council, a youth-led organization that for years has fought for legalization, held a "Coming Out of the Shadows" rally Friday at Union Square.

The rally was the local culmination of "Coming Out of the Shadows" Week, organized by the Dreamers and featuring events in several cities across the country.

At the Union Square rally, dozens of high school, college students and recent graduates - Vargas among them - shared their personal stories and came out publicly as undocumented youth.

One demonstrator, Melissa Velez, a petite 20-year-old student from Colombia, said: "We are not aliens, we are human beings. We are more than papers."

There are 2.1 million undocumented young people who have grown up in the U.S. and are thoroughly American, except on paper. They are not asking for much - just for an opportunity to contribute to their communities, achieve their dreams and be treated as dignified human beings.

On Wednesday the New York Dreamers went to Albany to tell their representatives they need their support for a New York State DREAM Act.

This new initiative, similar to ones being pushed in California, Maryland and Connecticut, would give undocumented students access to financial aid, including grants, loans and scholarships.

It would also give them access to drivers' licenses and work authorization permits, as well as the ability to enroll in the state-sponsored health insurance programs. Such legislation also seeks to prevent Dreamers from being deported.

Although it was only a first contact, the response of state senators and Assembly members from both parties to the Dreamers' initiative was very encouraging, said Vargas, who is helping to lead the effort to get a state DREAM Act enacted.

"We will never stop fighting because this is about much more than just jobs," Vargas said. "This is a much bigger struggle because it is a matter of justice."

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Sounds good! I hope all of this becomes law. Good luck NY dreamers!!!

Too much to ask for? In-state tuition and drivers' licenses should be enough, don't ask for too much at once or it will turn against you.

If you don't want it then don't apply for it!

Don't ruin it for other dreamers!!!!!

Dude, I want it to pass, too. I am just saying that they should play it safe.

I think this is going too far.

NY dreamers could live without the insurance thing. But the Driver licenses , Work permits and financial aid are not too much to ask for !

This is exactly what I was thinking, just don't put the insurance part in the bill.

Yeah seriously. The last thing we want is more crying from the right how we're a drain to society by having access to taxpayer benefits.

I'm adamantly opposed to that. Education should be the only burden imo.

^^ I feel really proud to see this type of arguments from Dreamers themselves. If only those on the extreme right would know that we are also concerned of Americans and the burden they have to carry for having millions on undocumented in the country. This very concern that we have makes us Americans as well. Unfortunately, it will take a while for them to understand this.