The American Dream is in Jeopardy for Youth

“Once social change begins, it cannot be reversed. You cannot uneducate the person who has learned to read. You cannot humiliate the person who feels pride. You cannot oppress the people who are not afraid anymore.” -Cesar Chavez “We are Americans, and Americans don’t give up.” Says Dulce Matuz, 27, named as one of Time Magazine’s Most 100 Influential People in the World, “putting herself through college partly via scholarships and graduating with an electrical-engineering degree and is also an undocumented Latina.” (Time April 18, 2012). As any Dreamer will tell you they are “Americans in their heart. We grew up in America. We were educated here. We want to give back — to work and pay taxes — to the country we call home.” Indeed, the “Dreamers” represent an estimated 65,000 undocumented students who graduate from high school in the United States each year, (Urban Institute) or over 1.2 million undocumented immigrant youth, raised within the United States (Arizona Dream Act Coalition). The question is what should we do with these children and youths who were raised in this country and taught in our public schools about U.S. freedom, independence and liberty. They believe in the “American Dream” and that is why they call themselves DREAMers. They serve in our military to protect our country. They are now able to be educated in our schools K-12 as well as on the college level. Get to know the Dreamers and hear their voice. For more information go to the “fact check page” at “http://theadac.org/factschecks.html”: What can you do? Even though this month, President Obama ordered a stop to the deportation of upwards of 1 million undocumented youth, granting them work permits if they meet certain criteria –this is only a temporary measure that helps these children. (Time, June 18, 2012). If you want to help these Dreamers achieve the American Dream here is what you can do. If you believe you go to a school, church, or live in an area where many DREAMers and supporters would like to form a group, please let them know so they can create a chapter. “http://theadac.org/join.html”