As you try to stay true to your New Year's resolution, take a moment to consider what four young people have begun. In an effort to draw attention to the DREAM Act, they are first walking from Miami, Fla., to Washington, D.C., a journey that will take four months. And then they are beginning a hunger strike, according to Felipe Vargas, a former University of Indiana professor who has been asked to escort them on their journey.
The Development, Relief, and Education for Alien Minors Act is a critical piece of legislation that would create a conditional path to citizenship for undocumented students through education or military service. Among the stipulations for eligibility are that the beneficiaries must have come to the United States before the age of 16, spent five consecutive years in the U.S., graduated from high school or obtained a GED and demonstrated "good moral character."
Indiana's Richard Lugar, a U.S. Senator since 1977, was one of four congresspersons to introduce the DREAM Act. "Access to higher education is an important tool in addressing immigration reform, particularly among undocumented students," Lugar said in June. "Undocumented young people usually arrive with their families and have no understanding of their immigration status. By limiting these students access to college, we deny our country their intelligence, creativity, energy, and often their loyalty."
Recently the Milwaukee Public Schools Board of Directors unanimously passed a resolution to endorse the DREAM Act, stating, "We as a nation must welcome and serve immigrant students and children of immigrants. The Milwaukee School Board of Directors supports the Dream Act because it will further our goal of serving and supporting all students."
The origin of the Trail of Dreams came from a show of support of Jesus and Guillermo Reyes, brothers facing deportation to Venezuela.
Jesus, who arrived in the U.S. as a 12-year-old and now attends Miami-Dade College, told a rally in December, "My dream is not too different from the dream of Dr. Martin Luther King. My dream is that millions, thousands of students ... will not be judged because of their color, will not be judged because they are from third countries, will not be judged because they are aliens, but they will judged for the content of their character."
Miami-based Students Working for Equal Rights (SWER) heard that call and moved to plan the Trail of Dreams, which will culminate at the U.S. Capitol in early May. Organizers hope to be joined by 100,000 in D.C. to urge passage of the DREAM Act.
"I am walking the Trail of Dreams to heal," Vargas said. "This walk is not just about immigrant rights or the Dream Act; this walk is about our humanity, about life and death, about food, shelter and water! I believe that the painful path is the hopeful path."