Today, Karla came out about her immigration status at her school, the Phoenix Academy, in Chapel Hill, NC. She did it in front of her teachers and school administrators, her classmates and peers. In her orange undocumented shirt “my name is Karla,” she said, “and I am Undocumented and I am unafraid.”
Karla Perez is a junior at the Phoenix Academy. She is an active member of the Immigrant Youth Forum.
by Alicia Torres
Early this afternoon word started spreading that residents of western NC are in fear of driving because ICE was present in the area. By 1:30 pm word was out that at least 20 people had already been picked up. According to those in the local area, ICE is stopping people on the way out of Cashiers, near the Wal-Mart in Sylva, and in Dillsboro – even stopping people as they are walking. At the roadblocks, police are asking for everyone’s IDs not just the driver’s license of the driver, which is the norm.
This attack on the undocumented community of western NC can only lead us to conclude that we, the undocumented community, cannot expect any sort of relief from the current Obama administration. Furthermore, it should alert us all that we need to develop a vigilant eye for the spread of ICE activity in our state.
We must look out not just for ourselves but for each other. According to western NC residents, they had never before witnessed as much ICE activity as today. And my gut is telling me that such intense activity will only spread into other areas of North Carolina. After all, our state has always been a testing ground for Department of Homeland Security programs such as Secure Communities and 287-g.
The painful aftermath of being picked up or having a loved one picked up by ICE may be experienced by 20 or more families in Western NC today. Such open attacks on our undocumented community are clear efforts to intimidate and instill fear in our communities and sow future seeds of injustice.
But WE, the undocumented community, should not back down from this attack; instead I invite you to fight back! Let’s fight back for ourselves, our families, and our right to a life free of fear of ICE and police intimidation. Let’s fight back against the injustices that seem to always accompany the presence of ICE in our communities.
I invite you to take pictures, to record (via phone or whatever medium), to write, and, above all, to make public whatever ICE is doing in your community. We have to be proactive in the change that we want to see. We have to hold Obama accountable for his attack on our undocumented communities. But we have to do it together, and everyone has to play their part.
Again, I ask you to keep a vigilant eye out for ICE activity and any possible injustice and publicize them. And you can also always contact us, NC DREAM Team.
image by Steve Pavey
Estamos recibiendo muchos reportes de que agentes de inmigracion y otros policias que buscan el arresto y detencion de personas indocumentadas estan en Jackson County, NC. Mas especificanmente, en el pueblo de Cashiers, NC. PASE LA VOZ!
We are receiving MULTIPLE reports that ICE and other police specifically targeting undocumented people is out in Jackson County, NC SPECIFICALLY the town of Cashiers, NC. If you’re in NC, please SPREAD THE WORD.
Orfilia Sagastume-Reyes of Thomasville, NC is currently set to be deported on June 7, 2012. She is the mother of a US citizen honor student. Orfilia fled political persecution and death threats in Guatemala to the United States with her family in October 1990, following the assassination of her brother. In 1993, Orfilia applied for asylum in the US. Based on the erroneous advice by a previous lawyer, Orfilia and her family withdrew their asylum application, which resulted in an order of deportation. Since then, Orfilia has been trying to fix her status, without result. Orfilia has resided in the United States for 22 years and is the primary caregiver of a minor US citizen child. She has no criminal record, not even a traffic ticket.
Orfilia Sagastume-Reyes has no criminal record, not even a traffic ticket. Why is ICE determined to deport her and the Obama administration refusing to stop the deportation of this mother?
If ICE re-opens her case, she will be eligible for a Green Card. If she is deported, her son will likely have to go with her, taking him away from his country and destroying his chances of a high quality education. If her son stays here, he will be in the custody of Social Services. If deported, Orfilia will not be able to return to the US for 10 years.
Please help keep this family together by taking action:
1. Call ICE – John Morton @ 202.732.3000
Sample Script: ”Hi, I was calling to ask that the deportation of Orfilia Sagastume-Reyes (A # 073 189 266) be stopped. Orfilia has been living in the United States for the past 22 years and is the mother of a U.S. citizen. She is eligible for adjustment of status if ICE lifts her deportation order. According to the Morton Memo, Orfilia is not a priority for deportation and should be allowed to stay. Don’t deport Orfilia – lift her deportation order and allow her to stay in the U.S.”
2. Sample Tweet: #Obama to deport Orfilia, mother of US citizen minor. Tell @wwwicegov to STOP the deportation of Orfilia! http://chn.ge/orfilia
3. Sign and spread the online petition: http://chn.ge/orfilia!
Thank you for your support!
Estephania Mijangos coming out for the first time about her immigration status at a Youth Empowerment Summit in Sanford, NC.
My name is Estephania Mijangos and I am undocumented. I came to the United States in the summer of 1999 with my family in order to join my grandmother. It’s a decision that my mother has regretted many times during these last few years and that at times I have as well. At first everything was great I started school and made many friends which I love deeply even now and who i am still relatively close to even after all these years. Whenever I introduce some of them I always say how they were my first translators when I started school and how they always supported me. I think that a big part of why I learned to love school quickly here was because of them without their support I don’t know how easy my transition would have been. From the beginning I was a favorite of my teachers and I always loved to see their faces of approval at my quick development and grasp of things. I continued to excel in school and already had my life planned out. I would graduate with high grades get a few scholarships and if that still wasn’t enough I would just go to a community college while I worked to be able to move on.
My freshman year of high school I began to see just how tough things really were for someone in my position. Laws began to pass that barred undocumented students from community college but because of talks I heard about the Dream Act I decided not to worry about it. I always believed that it would get passed by the time I graduated and that my life would continue to just advance. My sophomore year I began to realize how things might not be so easy. All of my friends got their drivers permit and some were given cars by their parents it was then that I had to begin to make excuses as to why I didn’t do what was expected of me. I didn’t get my permit, then my licence, and a car. I didn’t start to look at colleges when they did or even talk about college plans. I always avoided such conversations my supposed lack of interest in my future made me look stupid and my ego made me hate my situation even more.
Estephania speaks out at a vigil
I stopped working as hard in school as I should have something which I deeply regret now but can’t change. I can now see that even though then I didn’t acknowledge it I was depressed. I began to make arrangements to go to school in Mexico because although I had stopped working hard I still saw what I wanted and still cared enough to try to find a way to it. All my plans were quickly slashed one after the other because of family differences or because of the violence in Mexico that made it impossible for my parents to allow me to go to a certain region. I hated it and was so cynical that by then the faces of approval the teachers made when they talked to me about an essay or when discussing novels angered me. I hated those looks and wanted them to stop when before I had worked for them.
I began to see the differences in my AP and Honors teachers toward other students. They always smiled at us and encouraged us but always stated their dislike for having to teach one non-advanced class every now and then. Every time they made these remarks I began to look around and saw that my classmates just smiled and some laughed clearly proud of being the favorites and never thinking that she was talking about other students. I was ashamed when I realized that not long before I made the same stupid faces would simply agree with what she said. I was so selfish. If they disliked students simply because they were not at the advanced level how would they treat me if I ever told them I was undocumented. Would they still invest time on me? Would they care for me and smile every time that they saw me and hugged me or would they have ignored me because to them I would have been a waste of time. I distinctly remember one day while we sat in English 12 discussing a novel when the principal walked in. The teacher finished explaining her points and then greeted the principal warmly. They talked about us and she proudly said that we were all headed off to the best universities in the country and began to point out the students that had already received their acceptance letters and mentioning the scholarships they had received. She walked around the classroom and petted us on the head as she walked by. My whole day was ruined after that. I remember that there were days I would sit in my room and just look out the window for hours not thinking about anything just staring at the trees or my dog running around then I would do my homework and go to sleep. I wonder if it would have been easier I had just allowed myself to cry.
“I am Estephania Mijangos. I am undocumented, unafraid, and unashamed. I refuse to remain in the shadows as I watch the inhumane way in which we are treated when we are equal.” #Raleigh3
When graduation arrived I didn’t take part in anything that marked the end of high school. I didn’t take the senior pictures, buy my cap and gown, or even attend my own graduation ceremony. To me graduating wasn’t an achievement or something worth celebrating because after that I had no plans or roads to follow.
The Dream Act would help change that not just for me but also for many other youth that are in the same situation. I’m twenty-one now but I think back to when I was just sixteen and the way I thought and felt and it is because of everyone that has felt the same or does now that it is important to support the Dream Act. To speak loudly about it and work as hard as possible to make sure everyone knows about it. To reach the student whose world at age eighteen is falling apart and feels like they have no one that understands their pain. The student who feels useless in their own life making decisions because someone has already decided how far they are allowed to go without once getting to know them as a person. It is for all of them that it’s important to speak out and encourage them so that hopefully they can reach the point where they can say undocumented and unafraid.
At that point they can speak up for themselves and no longer watch as others speak for them just like I did before joining the NC Dream Team. When I began to be active in NC Dream Team I didn’t want to be open about it. I was still scared but with time they helped me build my courage and gave me the strength to come out. In the team I have found a family of support and care which I wish I had always had. I’m learning to care for them more than I have for people in a long time. We face many challenges and there’s going to be many people against us but it will help us be stronger for each other and make us better human beings in the end.
Estephania Mijangos is a graduate of Lee County High in Sanford, NC. She is an active member of Brick City Dream Team.
By Maria Alejo
Here in North Carolina, undocumented students like me have to pay almost FOUR times as much in tuition costs to attend a community college. My state acknowledges me as a resident when it comes to paying taxes; I have an Individual Taxpayer Identification Number from the Internal Revenue Service that I use to file my taxes. Yet, as I apply for the upcoming fall semester at Vance-Granville Community College, I’m told I have to pay out-of-state tuition for the classes I need to take. Which is it, NC? Am I a resident or not?
Ven a escuchar nuestras historias en la primera demonstración pública para Salir de Las Sombras acá en Asheville! SIN DOCUMENTOS, SIN MIEDO, SIN AVERGONZARNOS!
Join us as we share our stories publicly in our very first Coming Out of the Shadows Rally here in Asheville. UNDOCUMENTED, UNAFRAID, AND UNASHAMED!
Today at 4 PM at the Vance Monument in Downtown Asheville, NC
“Me llamo Stefany Simon. Sin papeles, sin miedo y sin avergonzarme. My name is Stefany Simon. Undocumented, Unafraid, and Unashamed.”
”En el 2005, despues de un viaje a Mexico, trate de regresar a la escuela. Y me pidieron mi numero de seguro social, como no tenia, no me dejaron estudiar. No termine ni la Middle School…hay que demostrarle a la gente que no tenemos miedo. Podemos ayudar a que otras personas en situaciones similares como la mia, puedan estudiar. Si tu quieres que el mundo cambie, tu tienes que cambiar. Si quieres que las leyes cambien, ponle tu granito de arena. Juntos podemos ver la diferencia.” – Abilene Gutierrez
”My name is Ilse Yahely. I am undocumented, unafraid, and unashamed.
Me llamo Ilse Yahely. Soy indocumentada, no tengo miedo, y no me avergüenzo.”
by Alicia Torres
Late on Tuesday night during my brother’s usual facebook scan for the latest on people’s life, he came across a post that he had to share with me. It was a post written by an ally (a person who holds US citizenship but is supposed to be a friend to the undocumented community) in which she vented her disagreement with the latest civil disobedience that took place in Arizona.
Although there are many things she wrote with which I disagree I want to focus on this one liner that she wrote: “I thought there was an internal agreement that the people protesting would always be college graduates” wrote advocate and ally, Carmen Cornejo. To me this statement echoes nothing more than a very big disconnect from the reality that we the undocumented community are living in. Currently only 12 states allow for undocumented youth to pay in-state tuition, of which Arizona is not one, and the number of states banning undocumented students from enrolling in colleges and universities is on the quick rise. The reality is that the majority of undocumented youth are not college graduates, meaning there is not that many to go around for our protests. But more importantly, you do not need a college degree to understand, to see, to feel the injustice that is being committed against us, our families, and our community. All it takes for many of us is to look across our dinner table and see our parent’s exhausted face sitting across from us. You may work with undocumented immigrants and even be friends with us but you will never feel the urgency with which we are currently living. This urgency that I speak of is one of needing to stop the injustices that on a daily basis plague our undocumented communities. This urgency is what pushes undocumented youth to drop the fear and come out as undocumented and unafraid. This urgency is what pushed the Arizona 6 to tell Arpaio we’re undocumented unafraid and we’re not backing down.
When a youth decides to be a apart of any coming out action it is the obligation of those around him or her to play a fully supportive role. You don’t have to agree but you do have to show support, and for the record questioning an act through which self empowerment will be the end result is not being supportive. For many of us it is our experience of coming out that allows us to meet eye to eye with our biggest fear and defeat it. There is no right or wrong age or level of education or criminal record background to come out, we come out because we have have been pushed to our limits and WE HAVE A CHOICE in either fighting back or curling in the corner. We the undocumented community are tired, angry, fed up and ready to fight back. We are from all walks of life. Some with higher education, 67% without one because we are being denied equal access to education but we all have a fire in our hearts and eyes that will burn until the chains of fear that have been placed upon our community are broken. We will do this through the self empowerment of our community. We are learning and teaching other undocumented youth along the way to own our voices, our stories, our lives. We are coming out as UNDOCUMENTED and UNAFRAID in a city near you.
Here in north Carolina, another state that does not offer instate tuition, the younger generation of undocumented youth are taking their cues from those that have decided to step up and fight back. They have experienced living in the shadows of not only a legal system but an educational system as well and and they are not willing to take it anymore. That is why they have decided to drop the fear and come out as undocumented and unafraid. For them it is their first step in the fight to regain their humanity and empower
themselves and their peers. We’re not rubbing politicians’ bellies, we’re taking direct action. These youth should be encouraged to come out and if and when they are ready to take that next step we’ll be there to encourage them and not slam another door in their face.
March 15, 2012
Contact: Viridiana Martinez (919) 704-0599
dreamteamnc@gmail.com
ncdreamteam.org
BREAKING: Uriel Alberto Has Been Released From Wake County Jail
Major victory for fight against deportations; new phase of fight begins
RALEIGH—Uriel Alberto has been released from Wake County Jail. His release marks an incredible victory for the immigrant community, activists, and people of conscience as they mobilize to fight against deportations.
At the time of this release, 2,558 people have signed the online petition for his release. The petitions, a calling campaign, a solidarity hunger strike, multiple vigils, and donations from the public to his bond fund were able to secure his release.
Alberto will continue to be in deportation proceedings, but bringing him home is an important first step and an important first victory. The campaign for his release will now shift toward fighting his deportation.
The NC DREAM Team and El Cambio are grateful for everyone who aided in the campaign to secure his release.
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UPDATE: Beckie Moriello, Uriel’s immigration attorney, released the following statement to the press:
“I’m thrilled that ICE granted Uriel a $7500 bond, and believe it was the right thing to do. That said, I want to emphasize how incredibly unusual this decision was.
There are 4 different reasons that Uriel’s case would not have qualified for a bond by Wake ICE under normal circumstances. I see no reason for Wake ICE to have granted this bond other than the public pressure.
While this is wonderful for Uriel, those who are concerned about these types of cases should keep in mind the 1000s of good people whose lives are regularly torn apart by our broken immigration system. Most people are not as lucky as Uriel was today.”
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March 14, 2012
Contact: Viridiana Martinez
(919) 704-0599
dreamteamnc@gmail.com
BREAKING: Uriel Alberto Granted Bond
Major victory for North Carolina undocumented youth; new phase of fight begins
RALEIGH—In a tremendous demonstration of community power to fight deportations, Uriel Alberto has been offered an immigration bond of $7500. More information will be released later in the day.
Currently, NC DREAM Team and El Cambio have been organizing since February 29 to secure Alberto’s release, which has now been granted. We are raising money for the bond.
Alberto will continue to be in proceedings, but bringing him home is an important first step and an important first victory. The campaign for his release will now shift toward fighting his deportation.
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Bond fund link: http://ncdreamteam.chipin.com/uriels-bond-fund
