A few weeks ago, I had the opportunity to meet with a group of inspirational immigrant students who made a stop in North Carolina on their 1,500 mile trip from Miami, FL to Washington, D.C. by foot as part of the "Trail of Dreams" initiative to demand just and smart immigration reform. The event was sponsored by UnitingNC (www.unitingnc.org), an organization with a mission to foster rational dialogue between immigrants and others in the community.
A few weeks ago, I had the opportunity to meet with a group of inspirational immigrant students who made a stop in North Carolina on their 1,500 mile trip from Miami, FL to Washington, D.C. by foot as part of the “Trail of Dreams” initiative to demand just and smart immigration reform. The event was sponsored by UnitingNC (www.unitingnc.org), an organization with a mission to foster rational dialogue between immigrants and others in the community.
North Carolina, like other southern states, has seen a significant increase in deportations, workplace raids, and barriers to higher education for immigrant students. Furthermore, Section 287(g) of the Immigration and Nationality Act, which authorizes the Federal Government to enter into agreements with state and local law enforcement agencies to perform immigration law enforcement functions, has created fear amongst aliens who lack a valid immigration status. This often causes illegal aliens to fail to report crimes to local law enforcement for fear of deportation.
These students spoke openly and candidly to me, public safety representatives and others interested community members about the challenges that these students and the 12 million undocumented aliens in the United States face each day and the hope that they have for the future. These students, some of whom are undocumented, are no different than any of us. They are good, hard-working, and kind people. The only difference is a status based on law. In the history of our great country, there have been bad laws related to women’s voting rights and segregation, to name a few, and those laws have been changed. Gaby, one of the students, pointed out that we need to do the same thing with our immigration laws.
During their visit they showed an inspirational video that I feel is certainly worth sharing:
For more information and biographies on the Dream Walkers visit: www.trail2010.org
Tags: bashyam spiro, dream act, education for immigrants, immigration reform, NC immigration, trail of dreams, UnitingNC, walk to DC