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12.01.2010

new dream act introduced: support immigrant students!

Another post in support of the DREAM Act, with some help from Asian Pacific Americans for Progress... Yesterday, Senator Durbin introduced a new version of the Development, Relief, and Education for Alien Minors (DREAM) Act.

If passed, the DREAM Act would provide a pathway to citizenship to undocumented students who arrived in the U.S. before the age of 15, have lived in the U.S. for at least five years, graduated from a U.S. high school and are pursuing their education or serving in the military.

Basically, the DREAM Act would make higher education more accessible and affordable for over 65,000 undocumented students nationally -- many of them Asian Pacific American. Nearly 40% of the students at the University of California system alone that would benefit from the DREAM Act are AAPI.

Now here's the part where you can help:
TAKE ACTION: Help turn the lame duck into a mighty duck and support the DREAM Act. Send a letter to your Senators and Representative.

1. Call your Senators and Representative today: 1-866-587-3023.

2. Ask operator for a member from the target list.

3. When the receptionist picks up leave a message urging the member to vote yes on DREAM.

Sample script: Hello, my name is and I'm calling as a constituent of ____ and as a member of APAP - Asian Pacific Americans for Progress to support the DREAM Act. The DREAM ACT would provide a pathway to citizenship to undocumented students and make higher education more accessible and affordable, which has a significant impact on the Asian American Pacific Islander (AAPI) community. I call on ____ to support the DREAM Act.

*Note: Be willing to give out your contact information to Congressional staffers to identify you as a constituent of their respective areas.
This is it. A lot of hard work and organizing has gone into making this happen, and with a little more pushing and spreading the word this week, the DREAM Act is close to becoming a reality. For more information on the DREAM Act and what you can do to help, go to the DREAM Activist website here. And tell a friend. Tell all your friends.