After thousands of undocumented youth mobilized in D.C., and
After the American public rallied in support across the country, and
After 7 brave DACA holders, myself included, spent 6 days in jail, on a hunger strike, and risked deportation,
Congress has failed to pass a clean Dream Act this year, effectively voting to deport us.
Tonight, Senator Schumer led the Senate Democrats to vote on a spending bill to fund the government without a Dream Act -- even after promising time and time again that he would “protect Dreamers” and attach the Dream Act to any legislation [1]. Senator Schumer and the Democrats failed to uphold their commitments, even though this was the best opportunity to do so. They say they are with us, but once again -- we are being asked to wait.
Our community has been waiting over 20 years. Politician after politician promises us protection to win our votes, and we continue to put all of our hope in them, and time and time again -- at the last minute -- they tell us we must wait. But we are saying Ya Basta! Enough is enough!
Over the next few days and months, you will hear all sorts of excuses for this failure -- that there is a chance for something to pass in January. But January will become February, and then February will become March.
Meanwhile, the crisis continues. 800,000 of us undocumented youth will lose our protection from deportation and our right to work after years of building our lives in this country we call home. And millions of others that never qualified for DACA will continue working without dignity, continue sacrificing without respect, continue crossing borders without safety, and continue risking it all for a better life.
We have no time to waste. The only way we will win is by fighting for our community, not by relying on politicians like Schumer, when we know they will just end up letting us down. The #Dream7 and the thousands of undocumented youth who flooded Washington, DC have way more bravery than any politician in DC.
In 2018, we will continue to organize our community, our allies. We will hold rallies, actions, and continue to risk all we have to uplift the urgency our community feels.
There are many allied organizations who have supported undocumented in this fight over the last few weeks. We are grateful to them. And they also tend to raise a lot of money in these moments. Let me be real for a second. We will only win permanent protection for undocumented youth if our supporters fund organizing efforts led by undocumented youth. These are the organizations doing the groundwork, making the sacrifices, and taking on the risks that will ultimately change hearts and minds and lead to victory.
With gratitude,
Cata Santiago
Cosecha Organizer and one of the #Dream7
[1] - "Senate passes spending bill, sets stage for tax cut signing"
Cosecha Organizer and one of the #Dream7
[1] - "Senate passes spending bill, sets stage for tax cut signing"
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