What is it

The DREAM Act is bipartisan legislation that would enable young immigrants who were brought to the United States as children without documents, to normalize their immigration status by finishing high school and enrolling in college or enlisting in the military. The measure, first introduced nearly 10 years ago, has the support of 70 percent of American voters, leaders of every major religious denomination in America as well as leaders from the education, business, military sectors. Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid has pledged to bring the DREAM Act up for a vote this year.

The Latino Youth Collective, with you, our friends and allies are coming together to push since from today, the Dream Act is going to be introduced as a stand alone bill in both chamber of the congress. We are closer than ever for it to be a reality. For thousands of dreamers to be able to keep contributing to this great country and come out from the shadows. That is why we are starting a hunger strike until the Dream Act is passed or until the Lame Duck session ends. We have decided to make the sacrifice of not eating so that our senators know that we are deeply thankful for their support and their commitment to a more educated country and so that they remember that we need their support more than ever.

  • - Despite the support of 12 Republicans, including 7 currently in the Senate, a standalone version of the DREAM Act fell just 8 votes shy from the 60-votes needed to be debated
  • Secretary of Education Arne also supports the DREAM Act. He believes it will play an important part in the nation’s efforts to have the highest proportion of college graduates in the world by 2020, making America more competitive in the global economy.
  • Secretary Napolitano believes this targeted legislation provide a firm but fair way to deal with innocent children brought to the U.S. at a young age so that they can dedicate their enforcement resources to detaining and deporting criminals and those who pose a threat to our country.
  • In IN, we have the support of Senator Bayh, Senator Lugar who wrote the bill and has introduced it in the senate and across the State it has support from the following institutions: Purdue, IU, Notre Dame, Valparaiso University, Indianapolis Wesleyan University, Saint Mary’s College and IUPUI.
  • We are joining with 26 states who are conducting hunger strikes and are organizing food drives for thanks giving.