From Oct 2 to Nov 2. One Nation Working Together.

I'm a fan of this video.



To receive updates about the Oct 2 march in Washington, DC go here and sign up. Info about events nationwide here.

The organizing principles of this movement are here.

400+ organizations are endorsing this campaign, including the Human Rights Campaign, 1Sky, Iraq Veterans Against the War, and the United States Student Association.

Help pass the DREAM Act in the US Senate! Now's our chance!

On Tuesday Senator Reid announced that he'll put the DREAM Act up for a vote in the US Senate as early as next week. It'll be an amendment to the Department of Defense Authorization bill.

SO EXCITING! But now it's time to get to work, to make sure it passes!

Earlier today, DREAM Act advocates from the United States Student Association, United We DREAM, Reform Immigration for America, Center for American Progress, and One America held a press conference at the Center for Community Change in order to urge the US Senate to pass the bill.



I took this from a write up about the event. I can't read it without crying:

Felipe Matos, who walked 1,500 miles on the Trail of DREAMs told his own story of being born into dire poverty in Brazil. When his mother got sick, the only way forward for her son was to send him to the United States.

When I arrived in Miami, my family here told me that I could achieve my dreams if I worked hard enough. And I took that to heart. That’s why I walked 1,500 miles – in WINTER! I’m from Miami, and I don’t know anything about how to handle the winter! But I walked. And I fought. And I did it because I love this country. I did it so that people could see us and know that we are human beings.

You can help!

* Call both of your Senators at 1-888-254-5087 and tell them to support the DREAM Act amendment:

“Hi I am calling to ask that Senator _______ vote in favor of the DREAM Act. This bill will allow for thousands of undocumented youth to fix their status by getting a two year college degree or joining the military. This is an investment in our country's future. Support the DREAM Act.”

* Take literally 10 seconds to send both of your Senators an email with the same message, here.

* Lastly, write a letter to your local newspaper's editor, here.

Thanks for your help.

One Step Towards Immigration Reform - Higher Education for Undocumented Students

WOW. This is crazy. From the United States Student Association's DREAM Act summary:

Even though [undocumented students] were brought to the U.S. as children, they face unique barriers to higher education. For example, even if they are able to enroll in college, undocumented students pay out-of-state tuition rates in most of their home states. Undocumented students are also unable to receive state financial aid in most states and are ineligible for federal loans or other federal aid. On top of the circumstances that make college much less affordable for undocumented students, their respective status also prevents them from legally working to pay for college. Their lack of proper documentation, such as a driver's license or even a social security number, can hinder them from filling out college and job applications.

The United States Student Association just wrapped up their annual Grassroots Legislative Conference and National Student Lobby Day in Washington, DC where students rallied on Capitol Hill to demand that higher education in our nation must be affordable and accessible to all.

On May 22 USSA, with support from the AFL-CIO, NEA, AFT, organized a press conference to announce the labor movement's support for the DREAM Act, as part of an effort to pass comprehensive immigration reform. Check out some moving footage from the press conference, held at the AFL-CIO Headquarters -



Support the DREAM Act.

The DREAM Act would:
* Repeal a measure that financially penalizes states for providing in-state tuition to their resident undocumented students, allowing more states to make college more affordable.

* Make students eligible for federal loans and work study upon adjustment of their legal status.

* Provide a pathway to citizenship by giving students conditional legal status for 6 years. Legal status becomes permanent once 1 of the following requirements is met:
- Receive a 2 or 4 year degree from a higher education institution, or must have maintained good academic standing for at least 2 years while wokring towards a bachelors degree or highers.
- Serve in the U.S. military for 2 years.

To find out how you can help, go here.


photo: Maria (on right) and her sister

This subject matters to me because in early 2006 I interned for US Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid in the Democratic Communications Center, located in the US Capitol Building. (Yeah, sweet spot!) One of my fellow interns was Maria Parra-Sandoval, then a top student at the University of Nevada at Las Vegas. While I knew that Maria was not a US citizen and that she had entered the US illegally when she was little, Maria never talked about these financial barriers to higher education.

This is craziness. I don't know what else to say.

PS - I just googled Maria, and found this 2008 article indicating that she's now a US citizen:)

Making College More Affordable

I received the below message today from the Center for American Progress -

As you know, the US House of Representatives passed a student aid bill last month, the Student Aid and Fiscal Responsibility Act (HR 3221), that will cut $87 billion in wasteful subsidies for student loan companies and instead put that money towards making college more affordable and accessible.

Now the bill's on its way to the US Senate, but student loan companies are doing everything they can to stop it.

Student loan giant Sallie Mae has already spent more than a quarter million dollars(that we know of) on newspaper ads trying to stop the bill, along with at least $3 million on lobbying. Another anti-student aid group hired the PR firm Qorvis Communications that offered to pay "experts" to write op-eds and appear on TV to criticize an investigation into AIG a few years ago.

To fight back, we need to make sure the newspapers know what actual students think of the bill. We're set up a system for people from across the country to email letters to their local papers and say that congress should invest in students, not banks.

Click here to write a letter to your local paper.

We've put up a sample letter & talking points to make it quick and easy, and you can use our online system to find your paper and send your letter with just two clicks.

Thanks for all that you're doing,

Pedro de la Torre III
Advocacy Senior Associate for Campus Progress
The Center for American Progress


If you are interested in this issue then check out the United States Student Association. The Nation did a great piece on the nonprofit last week, which you can read here.

Fortunately Obama is on our side -- speculation is that if the the Student Aid and Fiscal Responsibility Act makes it onto his desk, then he will sign it into law. This video came out in May --