Azhley Rodriguez
Editor-in-Chief
National organizations, FWD.us and PASOS Network, are sponsoring five Dream U.S. Scholars from Dominican to speak in front of Congress in support of immigration reform.
I Stand With Immigrants Day of Action is a national event that encourages individuals to advocate for Congressional support for immigrants. This year it was held during Nov. 2.
Students traveled to Washington D.C. and rallied over a three-day period, Nov. 15-17.
During this event, Dreamers from across the country will speak in front of Congress defending Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) and encouraging them to protect Dreamers in the U.S. and renew DACA.
Earlier this semester, Dominican’s Undocumented and Immigrant Allyance club (UIA) hosted a Beyond Borders showcase in the Social Hall, “to celebrate and exhibit creative and intellectual work created by immigrants and children of immigrants of the Dominican University Community,” according to the event page on EngageDU.
The Center for Cultural Liberation celebrated National Day of Action on Nov. 2 at DU and it was for this event and for the work DU students have committed to helping Dreamers that DU was recognized by FWD.us: a national organization with a goal of influencing policymakers to enforce and create policies that promote opportunity for people of color in America.
FWD.us and PASOS Network, an organization that uses outreach to create an impact, will sponsor five DU Dream scholars to take the trip to D.C. and speak in front of Congress this week.
FWD.us is also sponsor for the “I Am An Immigrant” campaign that “leads narrative campaigns that empower immigrants and their allies to share stories and drive action that demonstrate immigration is good for our communities, economy, and country.”
According to Jacky Neri Arias, director of the Center for Cultural Liberation, FWD.us reached out to her and UIA vice president, senior Zuleica Oseguera Padilla, inviting members to D.C. to speak on their experience as Dreamers.
“One of the organizers of FWD.us sent me an email and in the beginning, I thought it was just an email that goes to everybody showing support for immigrants. But then it was very clear that it was a very specific invitation for Dominican students to attend the D.C. fly-in because they saw how active Dominican students have been in supporting immigrants’ rights,” Neri Arias said.
Neri Arias believes this is a great opportunity for Dominican and for the students who will speak out in support of DACA in a public forum.
“We already do so much work to support undocumented students and being aware that 10 percent of our student population is undocumented, so why wouldn’t we participate in this?” Neri Arias said.
Neri Arias was asked if any students would be comfortable sharing their stories in front of Congress. She turned to some CCL interns and UIA members who decided they would.
Padilla is among the five who will be traveling to D.C. this week. Although she’s never flown on a plane or spoken in front of Congress before, she says she’s excited but nervous about the new experience.
“I’m excited. I feel like it’s a great opportunity, and because of my status I was always kind of scared to travel out of the state, especially on a plane. But now I’ve grown the courage to speak out. I would like my story to be heard, so I’m very excited about it,” Padilla said.
Although it’s a great opportunity, Neri Arias will travel with the students to provide protection and guidance in the event that they become overwhelmed or anxious.
“Dominican is sending me so I can support the students if anything were to go wrong or there would be emotional support for them. They’re going to be sharing something very vulnerable and it could be a little bit scary so we’re doing coaching in advance, FWD.us is also training the students and sending them packets. They will also do some briefings on what is going on with DACA now, so the students know before they stand before Congress,” Neri Arias said.
Padilla says she’s mentally and emotionally preparing to stay strong and focus on getting her story out there.
“Having my mom’s support has really been on my mind to ease the nerves and knowing that my story will have some kind of impact is also giving me energy to be there and say what I have to say,” Padilla said.
