We received the following release from United We Dream today:
20+ Local Affiliates Hold Rallies, Vigils, Call-In Days and “Banner Drops” to Decry Deportations that Divide Families and Push Obama to Lead on Immigration
Washington, D.C. – This week, coinciding with President Obama’s inauguration, hundreds of DREAMers across the country will participate in nearly two dozen rallies, vigils, and other events calling for immigration reform that protects families, DREAMers, and workers. Local affiliates of United We Dream, the largest immigrant youth-led movement in the nation, will hold events and actions in Texas, Florida, Alabama, North Carolina, Tennessee, California, Arkansas, Oklahoma, Massachusetts, Connecticut, Kentucky and New York as part of the United We Dream Inauguration Week of Action.
Participants will push for real leadership and vision on immigration from President Obama and Congress, an end to senseless deportations that divide families, and a path to citizenship for 11 million Americans without papers, including hundreds of thousands of young immigrants and their families.
“DREAMers won’t stop fighting until we win a path to citizenship for our parents, who sacrificed so much for us to have a better future,” said Myrna Orozco, national field director for United We Dream. “This week is the perfect time to send a clear message to President Obama and Congress: work together to pass immigration reform that creates a path to citizenship for our entire community and put an end to deportations that are tearing our families apart.”
Events include “banner drops,” where local organizations create banners and signs calling for humane immigration reform and hang them from major overpasses and bridges, call-in days to ask Congressional leaders to support legislation with a path to citizenship for 11 million undocumented immigrants, and rallies and vigils.
The Inauguration Week of Action grew out of the United We Dream 2012 National Congress in November 2012, when nearly 600 DREAMers from UWD’s affiliate organizations unanimously ratified a political platform for change which includes a roadmap to citizenship for 11 million Americans without papers and an end to excessive and costly deportations, as well as access to health care, safe and fair working conditions, higher education, and fair treatment under the law.
Undocumented immigrant youth will continue their role of leadership within the immigrant rights movement to build national momentum for policies and laws that protect all families and provide a roadmap to citizenship.