Nancy Guarneros
July 24, 2015
UCLA Center for Labor Research and Education
UCLA Center for Labor Research and Education has just published the third book in a series Dreams Deported edited by Kent Wong and Nancy Guarneros. Utilizing the Center's politically powerful approach that ensures that people speak and act collectively for themselves seeking justice, Dreams Deported is a significant contribution to the movement for immigrant and worker rights here in USA and internationally. Buy this book -- and use it!
Forward
This publication was produced by the students in a course I taught through the UCLA Center for Labor Research and Education in the 2013–2014 academic year. Teaching the class and working with the students was a remarkable experience. It was also a powerful personal journey and completed a circle that began many years ago.
Understanding the injustices undocumented immigrants face is something that I lived with for many years. I first learned I was undocumented while I was in high school. Although I had the grades and test scores to attend a four-year university, I was unable to afford it. Because of my immigration status, I was ineligible for federal financial aid or student loans. Instead, I attended Santa Monica City College as an AB 540 student (see Olivérez 2009, 7). After graduating from community college with an AA degree, I was able to transfer to UCLA.
I chose UCLA because it was close to home but mostly because I found a new home in the undocumented student organization IDEAS (Improving Dreams, Equality, Access and Success). I had the opportunity to attend an IDEAS banquet before I started at UCLA. The IDEAS students I met at the banquet were my heros. They proved that undocumented students like me could go to college and could succeed. I realized that this was the community I wanted to join. During that time, I was still trying to come to terms with my undocumented identity, as it had only been a year since I found out about my status. When I first learned about my undocumented status, I felt lonely and isolated. After the IDEAS banquet, I felt empowered.
July 24, 2015
UCLA Center for Labor Research and Education
UCLA Center for Labor Research and Education has just published the third book in a series Dreams Deported edited by Kent Wong and Nancy Guarneros. Utilizing the Center's politically powerful approach that ensures that people speak and act collectively for themselves seeking justice, Dreams Deported is a significant contribution to the movement for immigrant and worker rights here in USA and internationally. Buy this book -- and use it!
Forward
This publication was produced by the students in a course I taught through the UCLA Center for Labor Research and Education in the 2013–2014 academic year. Teaching the class and working with the students was a remarkable experience. It was also a powerful personal journey and completed a circle that began many years ago.
Understanding the injustices undocumented immigrants face is something that I lived with for many years. I first learned I was undocumented while I was in high school. Although I had the grades and test scores to attend a four-year university, I was unable to afford it. Because of my immigration status, I was ineligible for federal financial aid or student loans. Instead, I attended Santa Monica City College as an AB 540 student (see Olivérez 2009, 7). After graduating from community college with an AA degree, I was able to transfer to UCLA.
I chose UCLA because it was close to home but mostly because I found a new home in the undocumented student organization IDEAS (Improving Dreams, Equality, Access and Success). I had the opportunity to attend an IDEAS banquet before I started at UCLA. The IDEAS students I met at the banquet were my heros. They proved that undocumented students like me could go to college and could succeed. I realized that this was the community I wanted to join. During that time, I was still trying to come to terms with my undocumented identity, as it had only been a year since I found out about my status. When I first learned about my undocumented status, I felt lonely and isolated. After the IDEAS banquet, I felt empowered.
