Los Angeles DREAM Fast Vigil (Day 5)

DREAM Fast Vigil, Day 5

Citizenship Day

DREAM Act Fasters Highlight the Importance of Voting



Jane E. Chung

Program Associate

National Korean American Service & Education Consortium (NAKASEC)

Tel: 323/937-3703

e-mail: jane@nakasec.org

Web: www.nakasec.org



[Los Angeles] Day 5 kicked off with exciting additions to the DREAM Fast Campaign. California State Assemblymember Mark Ridley-Thomas (48th District) officially endorsed the DREAM Fast Vigil Campaign adding to the growing endorsements that come in daily. Moreover, Surim Esther Hong, an 18-year old student and a native of Chicago, flew in to Los Angeles to join the fasters. "I am currently doing a two-week fast. I began in Chicago and I wanted to fly out to Los Angeles to be part of the movement and support the people over here. As a Korean American it is important for me to be advocating for this cause. This issue affects our community and I think my involvement will further educate our community."

September 17th was national Citizenship Day and with many activities to escalate voter registration and voter education work at various locations including a naturalization ceremony at the Los Angeles Civic Center, DREAM Act fasters conducted a little voter empowerment work of their own.

Kathay Feng, a representative from APIA Vote! and a staffer with the Asian Pacific American Legal Center (APALC) gave a presentation on the different propositions that will be on the ballot this November and also educated the fasters on Voting Rights history. "The information was really helpful. Information on registered Korean American voters, the different propositions, and history of how people gained the right to vote was informative. This ties into my efforts for the DREAM Act really well. Education is something that I value very highly. Obstructing the path to education, I think, is inhumane. People have to use the power of their vote to change things."

Day 5 also saw two new 24-hour fasters, an 18-year old Korean American student, J. Lee (wishes to disclose her name) who will attend college through the California in-state tuition AB 540 program this fall and a 16-year Belmont high school student, Adilene Flores. Adilene Flores said, "I'm doing this because the DREAM Act is important for immigrants. I'm glad that I got to be a part of this effort. It felt great and I am definitely feeling hopeful. The DREAM Act needs to pass. To help make it pass, I'm going to be coming out tomorrow as well."

Students from IDEPSCA Teens in Action, Association of Latin American Students (ALAS), and Youth for Environmental Justice also offered their support today by mobilizing their student base to the fasting site.





What you can do to participate!

1. Call Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist (R-TN), 1-800-369-0315, and urge him to support the DREAM Act!



2. Call the White House and urge President Bush, 202-456-1111, to pass the DREAM Act!



3. Endorse the campaign as an organization or an individual! (For more information, contact Jane Chung at 323-937-3703)



4. Fast for 24-hours! (For more information, contact Horacio Arroyo at 213-201-4449)



5. Come out and support the fasters! 8:00 AM to 8:00 PM CORNER OF HOOVER & JEFFERSON (IN FRONT OF USC)



DREAM Fast Vigil Campaign

September 13 - 25th

In front of the University of Southern California (USC) - CORNER OF

HOOVER AND JEFFERSON

Friends and supporters:

On Monday, September 13th, a DREAM Fast Vigil will be held for two weeks

to stress the urgency and the need for accountability around the strong

bi-partisan legislations known as the DREAM Act and the Student

Adjustment Act. Students, educators, and their friends have held

countless actions including call-in days, legislative visits, rallies,

marches, sign on letters, petition drives, and national mobilization

efforts, yet the DREAM Act has not seen significant movement in Congress

since it passed the Senate Judiciary Committee by a 16-3 vote in October

2003. This event is nationally coordinated by the United We DREAM

campaign and the New Americans Opportunity Campaign founded by national

and regional organizations such as the National Council of La Raza,

National Immigration Forum, HERE-UNITE, SEIU, Center for Community

Change, National Asian Pacific American Legal Consortium and the New

York Immigration Coalition.

As we prepare to conduct the most dramatic non-violent grassroots action

around the DREAM Act/Student Adjustment Act to date, we are asking all

of you to ENDORSE the campaign and participate by:

1. Provide fasters to support our cause

2. Mobilize people for the launch and closing of the fast campaign

3. Provide volunteers to help with logistics throughout the two-weeks

4. Make a call to Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist (R-TN) at

1-800-369-0315 and to President Bush at 202-456-1111 and urge them to

support the DREAM Act!

Attached is an endorsement sheet that explains in more detail on the

participation levels.

Please fax the endorsement form to Jane Chung, 323-937-3703 OR reply to

this message with your Organization, Name, Address, Phone, Fax, Email,

and how you can participate!



DREAM Fast Rationale

There is something particularly compelling about the DREAM Act that

differentiates it from most it not all of the bills that still havea a

realistic chance to pass Congress and be signed by the President this

year. The DREAM Act would provide a path to permanent legal status for

students who were brought to this country many years ago as undocumented

immigrant children, but who since then have stayed in school and out of

trouble. They would be granted relief only if they are able to

demonstrate good moral character and if they graduate from high school

and go on to college or to military service.

Each year, about 65,000 students who graduate from high school would

qualify for the DREAM Act. They include valedictorians, honor students,

homecoming queens, aspiring nurses and teachers, and future leaders. As

they graduate from high school and plan their futures, they stand at a

crossrods. Unless the DREAM Act becomes law this year, some of these

promising young students will be deported from their homes to a country

they barely know, and many others will give up their dreams for good.

This must not happen.

Large numbers of students, educators, friends, and other supporters are

passionately committed to these students and to their dreams. Over the

last few years, immigrant students themselves and their supporters

across the country have engaged in an enormous number of activities in

support of the DREAM Act. We have held hundreds of rallies, gathered

more than 100,000 petitions, met with members of Congress, gathered

compelling case examples, held press conferences, written letters, made

tens of thousands of phone calls, started independent organizations,

created web sites, and more. All of this work has brought the DREAM Act

to the verge of enactment, with enough cosponsors to be confident of

passage if there is a vote, and with sufficient community awareness and

support to keep the issue alive.

Unfortunately, the 108th Congress is nearing the very end of the session

and there has been no official movement since the Senate Judiciary

Committee resoundingly approved the DREAM Act last October, other than

the addition of cosponsors. The upcoming adjournment of Congress on

October 1st presents a very limited window of opportunity, but advocates

still hope that the DREAM Act can pass this year.

To make this happen, we need to translate our passion and committment

into increased public awareness of the plight of DREAM Act students and

demonstrate the urgent need for change. Furthermore, recognizing the

plethora of issues that will be competing for attention from the media,

the public, and legislators - such as the November election, the war in

Iraq, the economy, etc. - we must separate the DREAM Act from the many

other important issus vying for action by Congress and the

Administration.

Advocates have patiently waited for the legislative process to usher

through the DREAM Act. However, the clock is ticking. Talented young

people are being detained and deported, forestalling their hopes for a

bright future as educated and skilled contributors to the nation they

love and call home. Students and advocates across the country can wait

no longer, and have been left with no alternative but to take action

that peacefully and prayerfully increases the urgent pressure for

passage for the DREAM Act.

The 2-week fast, and coordinated solidarity days, will be the most

dramatic national grass roots activity in support of the DREAM Act to

date. It will help to focus public attention on the DREAM Act. It will

do so nonviolently, but in a way that shows the depth of commitment we

feel about the need for immediate action. Symbolically, we plan to link

our efforts to previous civil rights movements, and thereby remind

America and our elected representatives that the future of our youth is

a simple question of justice and morality.







Fasters Needed for Los Angeles DREAM Fast Vigil 9/13-25!

ActionLA and National Immigrant Solidarity Network had endorsed the fast and will provide faster for the DREAM Fast Vigil, we are encourage APALA members to support as well!

Suggest fast date:

Sept 16th, 2004: 24 Hr. General Supporter Day

Sept 21st, 2004: 24 Hr. Labor Supporter Day Fast and Immigrant Convention 9 AM - 12 PM at Korea Town

Sept 23rd, 2004: March and Vigil Day

For more information, or to get involved, please call us at (213) 201-4449 or email harroyo@chirla.org

Lee Siu Hin

ActionLA

National Immigrant Solidarity Network



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