United We Dream
Welcome
Millions of young people have grown up in America while their families fear deportation, deal with inefficient immigration bureaucracies, and try to live their American Dream. It is time for the nation to hear their story.
United We Dream is a national network created and run by immigrant youth. We convened to pass the DREAM Act, and are committed to fighting for that and many other pieces of immigration reform. We believe that access to education is a right, that no human being is illegal, and that young people are going to lead the way for justice to prevail.
We are bold, energetic, and committed to bringing positive change for all communities in the United States. Join us: United We Dream!
Vission and Mission
As a national immigrant youth-led organization, the mission of the United We Dream Network is to achieve equal access to higher education for all people, regardless of immigration status. We aim to address the inequities and obstacles faced by immigrant youth and to develop a sustainable, grassroots movement, led by immigrant youth, documented and undocumented, and children of immigrants. We use leadership development, organizing, policy advocacy, alliance building, training and capacity building to pursue our mission at the local, state and national levels.
The goals of the UWDN include:
History
The fight to expand immigrant youth access to legal status and higher education over the past nine years has produced a steadily growing stream of immigrant youth activists who have become politically engaged through high school and campus organizations, national coalitions, internet blogs, and youth projects within immigrant rights organizations.
Immigrant youth organizing is not limited to large cities that are known for being popular immigrant destinations like Miami, New York City and Los Angeles. Active youth organizing is also growing in regions like the Heartland, Southeast, and Midwest, which have had rapid immigrant population increases in recent years and little to no social justice infrastructure.
Youth organizing for access to legal status and higher education has provided a stepping stone for immigrant youth to become politically active, to gain exposure to different streams of social justice work, and to share responsibility for building a movement based on principles of social inclusion and justice.
Opportunities for youth engagement within the immigrant rights movement have always existed. An early formation of the United We Dream Network was created as a result of efforts among key national advocacy groups, led by the National Immigration Law Center (NILC), to develop an informal coalition of organizers and advocates to promote equal access to educational opportunities for immigrant youth. NILC has for many years been instrumental in calling the attention of policymakers to the circumstances and inequities faced by undocumented students, which ultimately led to the introduction of the DREAM Act in 2001. As immigrant youth came of age and learned about the DREAM Act, they too sought to get actively involved. Additionally, the Center for Community Change, through its Fair Immigration Reform Movement (FIRM) project, has at one point also convened youth organizers from its member organizations for training opportunities and strategy sessions, including a national meeting in Boise, Idaho in 2007. Nevertheless, there was a lack of national infrastructure to sustain the energy and growing political astuteness of undocumented youth and immigrant youth organizers.
In December 2008, immigrant youth leaders and organizers met to discuss future organizing and advocacy efforts to ensure that immigrant youth obtain access to legal status and higher education. From the meeting, it was clear that an informal coalition structure could no longer suffice to sustain the much broader long-term vision of building an immigrant youth movement well beyond advocating for a change in immigration laws. Furthermore, there was a shared vision by key youth leadership that a national structure should be created that was led by young people whose lives are directly impacted by unjust immigration laws. As a result, the United We Dream Network was formed in July of 2009.
The Board
Julieta Garibay co-founded the University Leadership Initiative (ULI) at the University of Texas at Austin in 2005 and is currently the DREAM Campaign Director. U.L.I conducts outreach programs at the local, state, and national level to address the importance of higher education and civic participation among immigrant youth and the passage of the DREAM Act.
She earned her Bachelors degree in Nursing from University of Texas at Austin in 2005. By 2008, she obtained a Masters degree of Science Public Health Nursing from the University of Texas at Austin and was inducted into Sigma Theta Tau, the International Honor Society of Nursing. She is a strong believer that education is the key to success and that no one can take your education away regardless of immigration status.
Cristina Jimenez is a full-time graduate student at the School of Public of Affairs at Baruch College, CUNY. She serves on the founding board of the United We Dream Network and Make the Road Action Fund. Cristina was an immigration policy consultant for the Drum Major Institute for Public Policy (DMI). She also co-founded the New York State Youth Leadership Council (NYSYLC) and served as a core member for four years. Cristina has advocated for the passage of the DREAM Act and comprehensive immigration reform at the local and national level since 2004.
Cristina graduated Cum Laude with a B.A. in Political Science and Business from Queens College, CUNY. As an undergraduate student, Cristina organized and created initiatives for the advancement of immigrant youth and students of color. Among her awards include Queens College's Student Activities Award and New York City Council Proclamation for Outstanding Service to the Latino Community. Cristinas analysis on immigration policy has been published at The American Prospect and El Diario and progressive blogs like DailyKos, OpenLeft, and Alternet.org. She has been profiled in the New York Daily News, El Diario, and Hoy. Originally from Quito, Ecuador, Cristina migrated to United States at the age of 13.
Jose Luis Marantes currently serves as National Youth Organizer for the Center for Community Change (CCC) working closely with the Reform Immigration For America campaign. Marantes also serves as a founding board member and programming chair of the United We Dream Network, a national network lead by immigrant youth working to pass the DREAM Act and Immigration Reform.
Prior to joining CCC, Marantes served as the youth organizer for the Florida Immigrant Coalition, organizing Students Working For Equal Rights, a statewide immigrant youth-lead organization working for equal access to higher education for immigrants. His work has focused on developing young immigrant leaders to become full stakeholders in the struggle for immigrant rights and equality for all youth and their families.
Walter Barrientos is originally from Guatemala and has lived in the United States since the age of 11. Walter attended Baruch College (CUNY), where he obtained a BBA in Industrial Organizational Psychology, minoring in Communications. Currently, Walter is a full-time graduate student at the School of Public of Affairs, Baruch College.
Walter joined the immigrant rights movement in April of 2004. His work has focused on developing immigrant youth leadership and creating the organizational infrastructure where immigrant youth and their allies can galvanize their power and influence for progressive immigration and education policies. Walter serves on the founding board and governance committee of the United We Dream Network, a national network lead by immigrant youth working to pass the DREAM Act and Immigration Reform. Walter co-founded the New York State Youth Leadership Council (NYSYLC) and served as a core member for four years.
Matias Ramos was born in Buenos Aires Argentina in 1986. Matias and his family came to the United States in 1999. Matias graduated from UCLA in 2008 with a degree in Political Science with minors in Latin American Studies and Spanish. During his four years at UCLA, he was a teaching assistant with the UCLA Labor and Workplace Studies Minor Program, presented research on undocumented students at the Westwind Conference, and wrote featured columns for the campus-based newspaper the Daily Bruin. He has contributed to the Los Angeles Times, and received recognitions from the Clinton Global Initiative, the Mario Savio Foundation, the National Society of Newspaper Columnists, and the UCLA Community Programs Office.
Matias was the co-chair of Improving Dreams, Equality, Access and Success (IDEAS) at UCLA from 2007-2008. Founded in 2003, IDEAS has evolved from a multi-cultural support group for undocumented students to a full-fledged student-run organization that has served as a member in the nation-wide United We Dream coalition, the state-wide California Dream Network. Matias was an intern for the UCLA Labor Center, where he coordinated the educational book tour of Underground Undergrads: UCLA Undocumented Students Speak Out! where his story is featured. Matias later went on to become a DREAM fellow at the National Immigration Law Center where he advocates for opportunities for undocumented students. He is also the board chair of United We Dream, the national organization representing and led by individuals who would be eligible for the DREAM Act. He is a national leader, a gifted organizer and advocate for all students rights to an education. Above all Matias is a highly respected leader in his community and has been recognized by national organizations, university faculty, community-based groups and fellow students and peers as a critical voice in the movement for access to an education for all students.
Josh Bernstein, SEIU Immigration Director, is responsible for directing, developing and leading the Unions activities to build power for its immigrant members and their families through national lobbying, grass roots activism, and internal capacity building.
Mr. Bernstein joined SEIUs staff in January of 2009, after more than 14 years at the National Immigration Law Center (NILC), where he most recently served as Director of Federal Policy. At NILC, he was a trusted national leader on immigration reform and immigrant worker rights issues.
Before joining NILC, he served as a judicial clerk to the Hon. Harry Pregerson of the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals. His organizing and advocacy on behalf of low-income workers dates back to 1982, when he was Director of Californians for a Fair Share, a grass roots statewide coalition of low-income families and their allies that was formed to combat welfare cuts. He subsequently served as a welfare advocate for the Legal Aid Foundation of Los Angeles and the Inner City Law Center, a Los Angeles skid row legal clinic, providing direct services to homeless families and coordinating a coalition pressing for improved city and county services. Mr. Bernstein holds a Juris Doctor from the University of California (Boalt Hall).
Staff
Carlos Saavedra, National Coordinator
Carlos Saavedra has been organizing in the immigrant community for many years. As an immigrant from Peru, he has seen first-hand the hardships faced by immigrants in Massachusetts. For years Carlos has been part on the campaign to ensure that immigrant students in Massachusetts are able to fulfill their dreams of a college education and a better future. In 2005, Carlos was hired as a student organizer for the Massachusetts Immigrant & Refugee Advocacy Coalition (MIRA). While with MIRA, he organized immigrant students across the state, and helped found the independent Student Immigrant Movement (SIM).
In 2008, Carlos assumed the role of Executive Director of SIM, which advocates for equal rights for the immigrant community. Under his leadership, SIM launched and succeeded in their 10 out of 10 Campaign a campaign that aimed at getting the entire Massachusetts congressional delegation to co-sponsor the DREAM Act.
Tolu Olubunmi, Communications Consultant
Tolu Olubunmi is the Communications Director of the United We Dream Network the largest network of immigrant youth organizations in the country. She is responsible for all aspects of the Networks communications and media outreach efforts. She also leads a coalition of immigrants rights, education and civil rights organizations coordinating the media outreach on the Development Relief and Education for Alien Minors (DREAM) Act.
Though she has been active on issues involving youth for many years, Tolu began her career as an immigrants rights advocate in 2008, when she joined the National Immigration Law Center as a fellow focused on advocating for passage of the DREAM Act. In addition to her communications work, she also works on legislative and administrative policy issues affecting immigrant youth. Tolu received her degree in Chemical Engineering in 2002.
AFFILIATES
Make the Road NY
MIFN
Let the DREAMers
Dream
MinKwon Center
One
Michigan
NYSYLC
YES
DTLA
SIM
NJDAC
NSDA
LYC
DTD
IYJL
IDEAS
KRCC
DAV
KSMODA
KDC
NAKASEC
El Pueblo
TIRRC
ADAC
DREAM Act
OK
Natural
Dreamers
TDAA
SWER
ULI
Keep the DREAM Act Alive Campaign
Our current federal campaign is to promote the need for immigrant youth to obtain access to legal status and higher education. We also advocate for accessibility of state and federal financial aid, and dignity and opportunity for immigrant youth. To this end, the UWDN provides the planning, strategy sessions, logistical, financial and facilitation resources for convenings and trainings, as well as online organizing capacity.
Education Not Deportation (END) Campaign
The END campaign is a national campaign to prevent the deportations of young people, thereby allowing immigrant youth to continue their lives in the United States, pursue higher education and achieve their dreams.
Currently an individual END campaign is initiated when a student is facing imminent deportation. END has a network of local immigrant youth organizations, which are instrumental in organizing the campaign for the student facing deportation or in detention and partners including Immigrant Legal Resource Center, NILC, and SEIU. The overarching END campaign builds on the momentum created by individual campaigns to push for systemic change, including a moratorium on deportations of immigrant youth who would be benefit from a change in the current laws. The activities of the END campaign entail education of policymakers, legal advocacy, public campaigns, and targeting media.
DREAM Camps
The leadership development program is implemented through the DREAM Camp trainings in key states as well as through Skill Building Trainings. DREAM Camps mirror the Movement Building Trainings sponsored by the Reform Immigration for America Campaign. However, the DREAM Camps have been adapted to the particular needs of immigrant youth in consultation with Marshall Ganz at Harvards Kennedy School of Government, including skill building curriculum such as list building and new media organizing.
DREAM Camps provide youth organizations and projects intensive training to deepen knowledge of youth organizing, media strategies, web-based communications, and the development of a sustainable regional and national infrastructure.
Field Meetings
Durbin and Lugar Letter
April 12, 2010
Realizing Our Dreams
June 23, 2009
Growing Momentum
October 23, 2009
Arizona Law
April 27, 2010
Papers Premiere
February 23, 2010
More than a DREAM...
June 11, 2010
May Day Actions
May 01, 2010
Coming Out
March 10, 2010
Tam and Cinthya
May 18, 2010
AFL-CIO Support
March 22, 2010
McCain Sit-In
May 19, 2010
The Dream Times
Trail of Dreams
Starved 4 DREAM
Huffington Post
The Guardian
Terra
New York Times
Democracy Now!
Washington Post
MASS HOPE 2010
ABC News
Walking Towards Our Dreams
CBS News
Boston Herald
Journal Sentinel
Nebraska DREAM Walk
65: Fasting For Our Dreams
Omaha World Herald
Lexington Herald
Lincoln Star
The DREAM Is Coming
Trail of Dream Delaware
New York Tmes
Delaware Online
Network
Carlos Saavedra
National Coordinator
United We Dream Network saavedra_nilc.org
carlos_unitedwedream.org
Cell: (617) 459-1935
Office: (202) 216-0261
Tolu Olubunmi
Communications Director
United We Dream Network
Tolu_unitedwedream.org
(202) 216-0261 ext. 407 (o)
(202) 216-0266(f)
