Act now to help our Dreamers

At the recent CCDA National Conference in Chicago, we heard some amazing stories about a group of undocumented young people we called Dreamers, via CCDA member organization, Neighborhood Ministries, in Phoenix. One young man’s dreams of playing football and more importantly, having the money to attend college, seemed within reach after being pursued by a college sports recruiter. But without a social security card, he could not be offered a scholarship and in his words, “My dreams and heart were shattered.”

This is just one example of how without a path to citizenship, these young people have no legitimate way to make their dreams a reality. Instead, they live in a constant state of fear of deportation and are hiding in the shadows of our communities. We, at CCDA, have been looking for ways to show our love of neighbor and the compassion of Christ for our Dreamer friends across the country.

On September 14th, however, an amazing opportunity opened up to help these young people and the thousands like them. Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid announced that he would bring up an important bill called the DREAM Act for a vote on the Senate floor as an amendment to the National Defense Authorization Act, which the Senate will soon be considering.

The DREAM Act would provide an immediate path to legal residency, which would eventually lead to citizenship for immigrant students who have grown up in the U.S., if they attend college or serve in the U.S. military. It has strict criteria and caps on who is eligible, and would provide almost a million young people a chance to come out of the shadows and live a full life in the only nation they call home.

But the window of time for us to act is small—a vote could come as early as tomorrow that would determine whether the DREAM Act amendment would even be considered for debate! You can help in the following ways:

1.  PRAY and consider organizing a prayer vigil/service.

2.  CALL your Senator now: English: 866-996-5161; Spanish: 866-961-4293
Here is a script that you can use (feel free to adapt or expand):

Hi, my name is_______________ and as a Christian and your constituent, I am calling to ask the Senator to support immediate passage of the DREAM Act (S. 729), so that students who came to the United States through no choice of their own are given a future.

3.  EMAIL your Senator by clicking here to use this easy, automated form.
We hope that you’ll join our efforts to support our Dreamer friends. Together, we can give hope to these young people and allow those that live in fear and in the shadows come into the light.

Blessings,
Noel and the CCDA Staff

PS. For more information about Immigration Reform from a Christian perspective, visit www.faithandimmigration.org. Or, to join a national conference call with leaders and DREAM students, moderated by Conservatives for Comprehensive Immigration Reform tomorrow, Tuesday September 21 at 12PM EST, Call 800.895.1241 (Code: 7CIR)

article written by CCDA

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