One more article... we should do our own newsletter!

Check it out, sent by NICL: www.nilc.org

I like the idea of creating a tour. (See bolded paragraph) Maybe we should do this, wouldn't it be fun? We could become famous.

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WI: Undocumented students deserve American dream, too
Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, October 18, 2005
By Rachel Ida Buff

They have dreams. In the venerable tradition of American democracy, they aspire to a better life: to education, meaningful employment, economic security for themselves and their families. But for these high school students, access to this dream is blocked.

They are undocumented residents of Wisconsin, many of whom have lived here since they were small children. They call the state home. They speak English as their mother tongue. Many of them have excelled in high school.

They now wish to continue their education, to contribute to their communities. But federal law considers them illegal immigrants and makes them ineligible for all forms of financial aid, including loans. State law stipulates that they must pay out-of-state tuition at Wisconsin public universities.

This week, the DREAM-in-Motion Tour will appear at area high schools and colleges. The tour is named after the Development, Relief and Education for Alien Minors Act, bipartisan legislation that had been introduced in Congress and that awaits reintroduction by its sponsors, Sens. Orrin Hatch (R-Utah) and Richard Durbin (D-Ill.).

The DREAM Act would eliminate a provision of federal immigration law that discourages states from providing in-state tuition to immigrant students and would allow undocumented high school graduates to apply for legal status. Both steps move the students closer to being eligible for financial aid.

Made up of students from southeastern Wisconsin high schools and colleges, the tour features information about the issue of undocumented immigrant students' access to higher education, along with a short skit, "Illegal Minds," written by group member Miguel Lopez.
In "Illegal Minds," the main character, Pancho, "is millions of immigrants." As a baby, he and his parents elude pursuit by a thirsty Death and clamoring Minutemen at the U.S.-Mexico border and arrive in Milwaukee.

His father, Jose, works in a restaurant 12 hours a day, six days a week, while his mother, Maria, works as a housekeeper. Their hard work pays off; Pancho graduates from high school on the honor roll.

This is the immigrant dream. It is something we honor and respect in this country, particularly in Milwaukee, with our proud ethnic festivals and tradition of immigrant community building.
But for Pancho and his family, things go terribly awry. He is denied financial aid and in-state tuition at a university that he is more than ready to attend and is denied entry and college aid by the Marines, who nonetheless demand that he register for Select Service in an emergency draft to defend "his country."

Frustrated in his attempts to escape poverty, he winds up joining a gang and ultimately goes to jail for "being a menace to society." At his trial, he tells the judge: "I always tried to become the best I could be, but thanks to your laws, you took away all my dreams. Your laws became the nightmares in my dreams. . . . I'm only one of millions. I ask you to help us advance because we are trying. We only ask for equality of opportunity to overcome poverty."

How many Panchos are there in Milwaukee, in Wisconsin, in the United States? It is very difficult to count undocumented people, people whose jobs and families depend on their anonymity.

What is certain is that as long as there have been low-paying jobs in this country, there have been undocumented workers who toil for low wages and, very often, in horrific conditions in agricultural and factory work.

Pressured by employers of undocumented labor, federal laws have long made accommodations to allow these workers into the country. Our economy depends on them, and studies show that they put more into the economy, in productive labor and taxes, than they ever take out in social services or education.

The U.S. Supreme Court, in Plyler vs. Doe (1982), has ruled that states cannot deny undocumented children a K-12 education. Writing for the majority, Justice William Brennan asserted the right of these children to equal protection under the Constitution, rejecting the claim that their immigration status rendered them outside the constitutional definition of personhood.

If these undocumented students are legally people, entitled to public education in Wisconsin, there must also be provision for their continued personhood after graduation. If honors students like Pancho, who is fictional but also representative, must turn to menial labor or crime to support themselves and their families, what does that say about the American dream?

This week in southeastern Wisconsin, high school and college students will stake their claim in the American dream. All citizens and residents should support them by supporting the DREAM Act and by asking our public universities to provide education to all Wisconsin students on an equal basis.

Rachel Ida Buff is associate professor of history and coordinator of ethnic studies at the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee and a member of Voces de la Frontera, a southeastern Wisconsin immigrant rights group.****************************