“We are willing to walk the nearly 3,000 mile trek from the Pacific to the Atlantic. Are you willing to support us? Will you stand in solidarity with us? Let’s walk and talk.” This is the mission of students who are gathering national support as they walk a 3,000 mile trek across the country to bring awareness to the struggle of undocumented students in the US. The Campaign for an American DREAM (CAD) began its journey across the nation on March 10th at the Golden Gate Bridge and will culminate in Washington, DC.
The students are creating dialogue around the passage of the DREAM Act and immigration reform with the values of equality, unity, and diversity. Their mission states, “We believe all people are equal, all those who are oppressed should be united, and our daily lives and the Campaign itself highlight diversity.”
The message is simple, yet difficult to maneuver through the barriers of anti-immigrant phobias. Their plan is to educate communities and discussing the need for all students to have access to higher education.
Below is an excerpt from student Raymi Gutiérrez’ blog, a student pursuing a BS in Sociology at the University of Utah,
sharing her experience on this historic journey. The Weekly Issue/El Semanario will continue to update readers on the students during their country-wide expedition.
“Leaving home is the biggest sacrifice I have made since joining this walk. I have missed my family over the past two months. I have often cried because I was not home to help pay the bills, watch my younger siblings’ softball and baseball games, or spend time with my brother, who I am very close to, on Tuesday nights.
“Since my arrival, it’s been hard to balance organizing for the campaign, meeting up with friends, and spending time with my family. One day I visited my parents’ house and noticed that several things were still the same — not that I expected things to change drastically within the two months I’ve been gone. I went home to relax but instead, became the family driver and shuttled between picking up and dropping off siblings.
One of the things that has stayed the same, and has significantly bothered me, was dropping my well-educated brother off at work, where he is a janitor. It irks me that despite his two BS Business degrees, the only job he is qualified for is to ...