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United We DREAM Steps Up Pressure For Relief, Launches "Right to DREAM" Campaign

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The Right to Dream; DREAM ActRecord high deportations, Secure Communities and 287g enforcement programs, and millions of people still living in the shadows —

This is the Obama Administration’s mark on immigration policy.

Undocumented youth and their allies aren’t having it any longer. They’re speaking truth to power through a new campaign called the Right to DREAM.

“Enough is enough…through the Right to Dream Campaign we seek to gain relief for ourselves, and our communities,” reads the campaign webpage.

As part of the campaign, the DREAMers have outlined a “Declaration of DREAMs,” which asserts that all DREAMers have the following rights:

  • The Right to live our lives without fear
  • The Right to live with our families
  • The Right to live with our loved ones.
  • The Right to move freely
  • The Right to education
  • The Right to give back to our communities
  • The Right to build a strong sustainable economy
  • The Right to fulfill our Dreams

The campaign has also announced a day of action, this Thursday, May 17th, which will feature 22 events happening around the country.

(For a map of the events or to register your own, click here).

The Obama Administration has deported over 1 million undocumented immigrants in the last three years alone. And despite the issuance of a “prosecutorial discretion” memo back in June 2011, which called on ICE officials to consider a range of factors in determining whether an individual should be deported, DREAMers and other “low priority” immigrants continue to be thrown into deportation proceedings. The President has the executive power to protect DREAMers. Last April, 22 U.S. Senators wrote to President Obama to let him know they “would support a grant of deferred action” and other measures to grant relief to qualified DREAM students.

The DREAM Act is a piece of legislation that would provide a pathway to citizenship for eligible undocumented youth who completed either two years of college or two years of military service. Polls show it is supported by 70% of all Americans and  85% of Latinos.