Campaign for an American Dream: "Coming Out ...of the Shadows: Undocumented, Unafraid, and Unstoppable in Utah"
posted by ViewFinder on 5/11/2012
The American Dream Act- this piece of legislation was originally introduced August 1, 2001 by Senator Orrin Hatch and Dick Durbin. The intent was to allow good standing undocumented immigrants to have conditional permanent residency IF- they graduated from US High Schools and arrived while they were minors and had been living here continuously for a minimum of five years. The bill would have given them a 6 year temporary residency period if they were to move on to a higher education or enlist in our military and complete at least two years of honorable service in our military system. Unfortunately the bill was not
passed. Several forms of the bill have been introduced including one in December 2010 that passed with Congress but failed in the Senate with a vote of 52-44. Only 8 more votes were needed for the bill to pass and make it to the President's desk for signing. Orrin Hatch- failed to be present for this vote.
These once children-now adults are constantly faced with discrimination and mistreatment when recognized as Undocumented.
I listened as two brave young women "Came out of the shadows" and shared their stories of the Undocumented life. Their struggles are none that I had ever known. Their families are being torn apart with no justified reason other than someone is missing a piece of paper. They are not criminals, they are not "illegals" they are HUMAN BEINGS!
Above: Sol Jiminez of South Jordan Utah came out
of the shadows, expressing her love and appreciation for her parents for wanting a better life for her family. At 17 years old Sol has already obtained her Associates Degree before even graduating from High School. Sol was born in Mexico and brought to the United States by her mother at the age of two, to reunite with her father who had already immigrated to the US the previous year. "They sacrificed everything- they left their country, their language, their own culture, their families to [go to] a new country where the language, the lifestyle was just as opaque and unclear as what our future and our living would be here in our country. Every day I ask myself 'why'? The reason they did this was for me" "It kills me to see us discriminated and frowned upon simply because they wanted something better for me". Sol has great courage and was an inspiration for me to want to learn more about these PEOPLE. Many times I heard them say "No human is illegal". "We are not 'aliens'". They are right! They are people- we must give them the respect and compassion they deserve as human beings.
passed. Several forms of the bill have been introduced including one in December 2010 that passed with Congress but failed in the Senate with a vote of 52-44. Only 8 more votes were needed for the bill to pass and make it to the President's desk for signing. Orrin Hatch- failed to be present for this vote.These once children-now adults are constantly faced with discrimination and mistreatment when recognized as Undocumented.
I listened as two brave young women "Came out of the shadows" and shared their stories of the Undocumented life. Their struggles are none that I had ever known. Their families are being torn apart with no justified reason other than someone is missing a piece of paper. They are not criminals, they are not "illegals" they are HUMAN BEINGS!
Above: Sol Jiminez of South Jordan Utah came out
of the shadows, expressing her love and appreciation for her parents for wanting a better life for her family. At 17 years old Sol has already obtained her Associates Degree before even graduating from High School. Sol was born in Mexico and brought to the United States by her mother at the age of two, to reunite with her father who had already immigrated to the US the previous year. "They sacrificed everything- they left their country, their language, their own culture, their families to [go to] a new country where the language, the lifestyle was just as opaque and unclear as what our future and our living would be here in our country. Every day I ask myself 'why'? The reason they did this was for me" "It kills me to see us discriminated and frowned upon simply because they wanted something better for me". Sol has great courage and was an inspiration for me to want to learn more about these PEOPLE. Many times I heard them say "No human is illegal". "We are not 'aliens'". They are right! They are people- we must give them the respect and compassion they deserve as human beings.
Comments
Post a Comment