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DREAMers Call on Obama to "Go Big" on Executive Action for Immigrants

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Sign United We Dream’s petition telling President Obama to GO BIG on executive action!

Today, more than a hundred DREAMers and advocates with United We Dream marched in front of the White House, calling on President Obama to “go big” in any executive action for immigrants he may be considering this year.

Last Friday, the Los Angeles Times reported that Obama was indeed considering using his executive authority to protect more immigrants and their families from deportation.  Such an action could happen by the end of this summer, and help some 5 million immigrants.  The DREAMers at the White House today brought a giant prop called “Dreams from Our Families” (a reflection of Obama’s first book) through which they shared their stories, highlighted the successes of DACA, and called on Obama to go as big as possible on any executive action for immigrants this year.

As Maria Praeli, a Dreamer from Connecticut said:

My mother was forced to watch her mother’s funeral on an iPad. When my grandmother passed away, my mother had to make a difficult choice between going to her funeral in Peru, or forever leaving her family behind in the United States. It’s because of our country’s inhumane immigration system that she was unable to lay her mother to rest.

My mother still lives under the perpetual threat of deportation. My mother, like millions in the undocumented community, is unable to travel, apply for a driver’s license, or visit family in other countries. This lack of basic freedom is not only paralyzing to undocumented people, but also to our families.

We are here in D.C. today to demand President Obama to think about his legacy. This is his chance to stand with the immigrant community and not cement his legacy as the Deporter-in-Chief. He must build on DACA, a successful program that has provided work permits to more than 600,000 young immigrants, and extend that to people like my mom.

View the photos from today below: