When President Trump rescinded DACA, a new chapter of the Dreamers movement began. The Dreamers are using what they’ve learned. They will use their presence in every corner of the country to mobilize. When the Dreamers say, “We are here to stay,” they don’t just mean this literally. They also mean that their voices will not be silenced.
Last September 5, Trump rescinded DACA for about 800,000 Dreamers. Then in October, Trump tied his backing for any new DACA legislation to building his anti-immigrant wall on the Mexican border, more funding for the border, etc. The Dreamers are being used as bargaining chips to get tougher immigration reform.
But the Dreamers are not taking the news sitting down. They know that President Obama did not pass DACA without a fight. The Dreamers took to organizing, knocking on doors and a lot of walking. They sat down in the streets and highways; they crossed the border into Mexico and back; they chained themselves to the White House fence.
The Dreamers forged themselves into a movement with a collective identity. They became increasingly aware of their shared destiny and collective strength.
The Dreamers are doing their job, the rest of Americans need to let their voices be heard. The majority of the American people are for the Dreamers to stay, and not just Democrats. “Nearly 8 in 10 voters support allowing Dreamers to remain permanently in the country, including almost three-quarters of Trump voters and only 14% believe they should be forced to leave.”
(http://www.americanprogress.org/…/news/2017/…/21/…/new-threat-daca-cost-states-billions…)
The clock is ticking. From March 6 the deportation of the Dreamers could begin at a rate of 1,000 per day until they’re all deported. We need to keep the pressure on our politicians. Let them know that if they don’t vote to protect the Dreamers from deportation they will pay at the ballot box.
“Then they came for the Dreamers and we said: No! Not this time!”
This article is from a talk by Laura Garcia, editor of the Tribuno del Pueblo, to the students at Harold Washington College in Chicago.
