DREAM ACT as military draft for youth

From my inbox:

DREAM ACT as military draft for our youth….

Today March 1, 2007 there was an announcement that the Dream Act will be re-introduced, by representatives Diaz-Balart (R-FL), Howard Berman (D-CA), and Royal Allard (D-CA) and in the senate Richard Durbin (D-IL), Chuck Hagel (R-NE), and Richard Lugar (R-IN) also announced that they will introduce the DREAM Act within the next couple of days.

This measure is supposed to offer citizenship to “immigrant” students with conditions, but we must read between the fine lines what this measure really proposes is just another poverty draft in our communities.

When this measure was first introduced five years ago, many of us supported it, because we fundamentally believe that everyone has the right to an education, what has changed since then is that:

1). “Immigrant” students will be able to pay in-state tuition fees, but NOT have access to federal funding (loans, financial aid, etc.). Given the rise in cost of a college education (even at the community college level), and stringent college admission requirements this will limit many in our community to pursue an education because most students need to work to support their families and DO NOT have the economic means to go to college.

2). Military service substituted the original proposal of community service. We are well aware that the majority of our youth will opt for this choice due to their economic reality, this is why we call the “DREAM” Act for what it is a poverty draft/Surge Act. Our youth will be forced to fight unjust wars and risk their lives for citizenship. [my emphasis]

We are aware that neither the Republican nor the Democratic parties have the interest of the Mexican and Latino Americano working class communities in mind, and this is why we say NO to the DREAM Act and YES to a legalization process without conditions and
the unconditional right to an education and access to higher learning institutions!

We make a call to all progressive youth, student, and community organizations to join us in the struggle to denounce legislation that will force us to fill the rank and file of the U.S. Military. Don’t Join the Military, join Somos Raza in opposing this piece of dangerous legislation by signing on to the statement below. Organize and unite with the interests of our community!

In solidarity & in struggle,
Somos Raza

The text of Somos Raza and allied organizations’ full statement, in English and Spanish, in opposition to the DREAM Act is below.

Somos Raza Statement – Our dream shall not become a nightmare!

Thursday March 1, 2007

Exactly one year ago, when the spring of 2006 was
beginning, we the youth and students of San Diego,
along with hundreds and thousands of other youth and
students from various communities, barrios, towns, and
cities in the United States took to the streets to
denounce, protest, chant, and demand that the US
government not criminalize our parents, organizations,
and communities.

It was with our rebelliousness, joy, and strength that
we joined the vehement outcry of our parents and
migrant workers against HR4437, so that our dignity
will no longer be trampled on.

We walked out of our classrooms wearing our school
uniform, carrying our national flags, with our
backpack on our shoulders, and books under our arms to
demand dignity and respect!

Our destination was Chicano Park, the heart of our
community in San Diego, because the Park is a symbol
of our struggle, of justice, and the
self-determination of our people. That spring was a
season of hope, and it was then that our voices said
¡Enough is Enough!

Thousands of us marched through the streets of our
city even though they told us we were wrong, and we
continued to demand dignity and respect when we were
intimidated by school administrators and harassed by
the police. Through these intense times we were able
to unite and organize one of the biggest marches ever
seen in the city of San Diego, led by us the youth and
students in solidarity with our parents that also
demanded dignity and respect……that was our season of
hope.

We know that there will be many more of those springs
to come that will blossom new struggles.

In 2001, when the DREAM ACT was proposed, we the youth
and students supported this measure because we believe
that every student has the right to an education and
that no document can deny us that right.

Also in 2001 the US government declared a war against
the Arab and Muslim communities. A little later a war
was also declared against the Mexican and Latin
American communities and soon after this the war also
reached Afghanistan and Iraq where millions of
innocent women, men, and children have been killed as
a result of this unjust and illegal war. Not only was
an unjust war launched thousands of miles away, but we
were dragged to these remote lands where U.S. bombs
and bullets fall and we are used as cannon fodder.

Little by little the same congress representatives
that sent us to “fight” an illegal and unjust war
began to criminalize our parents, they approved an
expansion of the border that divides our land, and put
conditions on our right to an education. They tell us
that we can attend a higher learning institution and
receive citizenship, but they deny us access to
federal grants. They also say that in exchange for
military service and going to fight a war we can
attain citizenship, but it is most probable that we
get it once our bodies are in coffins.

There are many who want to negotiate in our name, but
we have already stated our demands during our season
of hope, our message was clear: ¡Enough is Enough! We
do not need intermediaries, we do not need them to
give us a voice, because we have spoken, listen to us
know! Those who propose the DREAM ACT tell us with all
the arrogance in the world that this is our only
option to obtain citizenship.

Community youth and student led organizations will not
permit that our dream turn into a nightmare.

We the undersigned organizations declare that:

1. The fundamental right to an education is not
negotiable.
2. No government can force us to go to war in exchange
for citizenship.
3. We are opposed to forced military and war service.
4. We propose a just and dignified immigration policy
that will not negotiate our rights and dignity as a
people.
5. We propose an immigration policy that will
demilitarize the border.
6. We propose an immigration policy that will liberate
our mothers, fathers, sisters, brothers and families
currently held in immigration detention centers.
7. We propose an immigration policy that will put an
end to the raids in our community.

We the undersigned youth and student led organizations
do not recognize the measures that congress tries to
impose on us without consulting with us, and without a
dialogue. We are opposed to a DREAM ACT that will send
us to war forcibly. You do not speak in our name. ¡Our
dream will not be a nightmare! And many more Springs
of struggle will come.

I am not the Army!
Our right to an education is not negotiable!
Our dream shall not be a nightmare!

Endorsing Organizations:

Coordinadora Estudiantil de la Raza (Los Angeles)
MEChA San Diego State University
MEChA San Diego City College
Raza Rights Coalition (San Diego & Los Angeles)
Committee on Raza Rights (Oxnard)

To endorse, please send an e-mail to: Somos Raza
————–español———–
¡Nuestro sueño no será una pesadilla!

Jueves 1 de Marzo 2007

Hace exactamente un año, cuando apenas iniciaba la
primavera de 2006, l@s jóvenes y estudiantes de San
Diego, junto a cientos de miles de jóvenes y
estudiantes de cientos de comunidades, barrios,
pueblos y ciudades de los Estados Unidos tomamos las
calles para denunciar, protestar, gritar, cantar,
exigir que el gobierno de este país no criminalizará a
nuestros padres, a nuestras organizaciones, a nuestro
pueblo.

Con nuestra rebeldía, con nuestra alegría, con nuestra
fuerza, nos sumamos al clamor de las y los
trabajadores migrantes, nuestros padres, para que
nuestra dignidad no fuera pisoteada por la nefasta HR
4437.

Con nuestras banderas nacionales, con mochilas al
hombro, con libros bajo el brazo, con nuestros
uniformes escolares, l@s jóvenes y estudiantes de San
Diego salimos de nuestros salones de clase para exigir
dignidad y respeto.

Escogimos el Parque Chicano, corazón de nuestro
pueblo, en esta fronteriza ciudad de San Diego, porque
el Parque Chicano es símbolo de rebeldía, de justicia,
de la libre determinación de nuestro pueblo. Aquella
fue la Primavera de la Esperanza, y en esa Primavera
de la Esperanza, nuestras voces dijeron ¡Ya Basta!

Fuimos miles de jóvenes, que marchamos por las calles
de nuestra ciudad y a pesar de que nos dijeron que
estábamos mal, a pesar de que la policía y los
directores de las escuelas nos intimidaron, nos
golpearon, nos detuvieron en las estaciones
policíacas, nosotros l@s jóvenes continuamos exigiendo
dignidad y respeto, y así juntando voces y rebeldías
organizamos la marcha más grande en la historia de San
Diego organizada por jóvenes y estudiantes en apoyo a
nuestros padres que también exigían dignidad y
respeto, esa fue nuestra Primavera de Esperanza.

Sabemos que vendrán más primaveras, donde florecerán
muchas y lindas resistencias.

Desde 2001, cuando se propuso el DREAM l@s jóvenes y
estudiantes apoyamos la medida porque nostr@s creemos
que tod@ joven tiene el derecho a la educación y que
ningún papel puede impedirnos ese derecho.

Pero también en 2001, el gobierno de este país le
declaró la guerra a las comunidades árabes, a las
comunidades musulmanas. Poco después el gobierno de
este país le declaró la guerra también a las
comunidades mexicanas y latino americanas y no faltó
mucho para que la guerra llegará a Afganistán y a
Irak, donde han muerto millones de mujeres, hombres y
niñ@s inocentes, en guerras injustas, ilegales y
criminales. No sólo eso, pero en esas tierras lejanas
a donde las bombas y las balas de este país llegaron,
también nos llevaron a nosotros, l@s jóvenes como
carne de cañón a pelear en las guerras del mal
gobierno.

Poco a poco, los mismos congresistas que nos mandan a
pelear en guerras injustas y criminales, los mismos
congresistas que criminalizan a nuestros padres, los
mismos congresistas que construyen muros sobre nuestra
tierra, nos condicionan nuestro supremo derecho a la
educación. Nos dicen que podemos ir a la universidad y
que así tendrán l@s jóvenes y estudiantes documentos,
pero nos niegan el acceso a becas federales, nos dicen
que también podemos ir a la guerra, sirviendo al
ejército y que de esa forma podemos tener papeles, lo
más probable que dentro de una ataúd.

Hay quienes quieren negociar a nombre de l@s jóvenes y
estudiantes, nosotros ya dijimos nuestra palabra,
durante la Primavera de la Esperanza, el mensaje fue
claro ¡Ya Basta! No necesitamos de intermediarios, no
necesitamos que nos den voz, por que ya hablamos,
escúchennos ahora. Los que proponen el DREAM Act
ahora, con toda la soberbia del mundo, nos dicen que
esa es la única oportunidad para tener papeles.

Nosotr@s l@s organizaciones de jóvenes y estudiantes
no permitiremos que nuestro sueño lo conviertan en
pesadilla.

Nosotr@s l@s organizaciones de jóvenes y estudiantes
abajo firmantes declaramos que:

1. Que el supremo derecho a la educación no es
negociable.
2. Que ningún gobierno puede obligarnos ir a la
guerra a cambio de papeles.
3. Que nos oponemos a la guerra y al reclutamiento
militar forzado.
4. Que proponemos una reforma migratoria justa y
digna donde no se negocien los derechos, la justicia
y la dignidad de nuestro pueblo.
5. Que proponemos una reforma migratoria que
desmilitarice la frontera.
6. Que proponemos una reforma migratoria que
liberé a nuestros padres, a nuestras madres, a
nuestros hermanos, a nuestras hermanas, a nuestras
familias que se encuentran encarceladas en centros de
detención migratorios.
7. Que proponemos una reforma migratoria que
termine con las redadas.

Nosotr@s l@s organizaciones de jóvenes y estudiantes
abajo firmantes decimos que quienes nos quieran
imponer desde arriba, sin consultarnos, sin dialogar
un DREAM ACT que nos manda a la guerra, no hablan a
nombre nuestro. ¡Nuestro Sueño No Será Una Pesadilla!
Y Vendrán más primaveras.

¡Yo No Soy El ARMY!
La Educación es un derecho inegociable
¡Que Nuestro Sueño No Sea Una Pesadilla!

Organizaciones Patrocinadoras:

Coordinadora Estudiantil de la Raza (Los Angeles)
MEChA San Diego State University
MEChA San Diego City College
Coalición Pro-Derechos de la Raza (San Diego & Los
Angeles)
Comité Pro-Derechs de la Raza (Oxnard)
<BR>Para patrocinar favor de mandar un correo
electrónico a: Somos Raza