Monday, January 04, 2010

New Tactic for Advocates of Immigration Reform

In and attempt to raise awareness of the need for comprehensive immigration reform, four immigrant students set out on foot from downtown Miami on Friday, starting a four-month walk to Washington to protest "the Obama administration’s lack of action on legislation granting legal status to illegal immigrants."  Three of the students are undocumented, and thus risk being apprehended in route to Washington.

Although the students would like to see a major immigration overhaul, it's also clear that this group would benefit from the passage of the DREAM Act:
The students in Miami said in a statement that they decided to begin their walk because they had a “deep desire and need for complete citizenship” after they reached dead-ends in school or work because of their lack of legal immigration status. The protesters include Carlos Roa, 22, who was 2 years old when his parents brought him here from Venezuela, and Felipe Matos, 23, sent from Brazil by his mother when he was 14. They say they support proposals in overhaul bills that would open a path to citizenship for students who came to this country illegally when they were young.

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