Calidreamer

https://news.google.com/news/video/GpltAT1rxLY/dA2Q0qEOo6SudTMr4ogmHuAH_HrYM?hl=en A wide ranging group of House Republicans said on Thursday that they are prepared to work to pass new legislation that would assist those in the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program, or DACA, by the end of the year. "No bill is going to be perfect, but inaction is just not acceptable," said Rep. Dan Newhouse, R-Washington. He added, "I can tell you almost every single Republican agrees that it's the responsibility of Congress not the administration to make immigration law." The Republicans renewed efforts to provide immigration reform come after President Trump charged members of Congress to come up with a fix to existing legislation after official rolling back the Obama-era program back in September. He gave them a 6-month window for such a task. Rep. Joe Barton, R-Texas, said he would like to see legislation done by the end of the calendar year and was optimistic of it gaining Democratic support. "When a bill comes to the floor, whatever bill it is, I predict it will have a vote with well over 300 votes to send the bill to the Senate," suggested Barton. Rep. Fred Upton, R-Michigan, echoed that timeline, charging his colleagues to "take up the president's challenge, let's get it done and say Merry Christmas to a lot folks across the country." Senate Republicans had previously offered their own potential fix to the DACA program, with Senators Thom Tillis, James Lankford and Orrin Hatch unveiling their latest immigration reform effort, the SUCCEED Act (Solution for Undocumented Children through Careers Employment Education and Defending our nation), which they called a "fair and compassionate" merit-based solution to issues facing undocumented children currently in the U.S. But as late as last month, the Trump administration was reportedly finalizing the details of a set of immigration principles that could upend efforts to come up with a permanent fix for the status of young immigrants who came to the country illegally as children. The principles, according to people familiar with ongoing discussions, were expected to include elements of proposed legislation that would dramatically reduce legal immigration rates. Also to be pursued was an overhaul of the green card system to prevent extended family members, including siblings and adult children, from joining permanent residents in the U.S. Source:https://www.cbsnews.com/news/house-republicans-talk-daca-fix-negotiations-live-stream/

The march began at Hope College and ended with a rally at city hall on Tuesday. Roberto Jara marched for the dozens of of kids he has worked with, who have been recipients of the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals Act. Jara, executive director of Latin Americans United for Progress in Holland, was joined by about 200 Hope College students and community members from Holland as they marched to city hall and rallied to advocate for the implementation of a clean DREAM Act and immigration reform in the U.S. The DREAM Act stands for the Development, Relief, and Education for Alien Minors Act and is legislation that would protect undocumented immigrants brought to the U.S. as children. The march started at Grove Point in the middle of Hope College’s campus at about 11 a.m. Afterwards, marchers rallied inside Holland City Hall and listened to a number of speakers, including Jara and Mayor Nancy DeBoer. “We need to call for our legislators to be leaders and make America great once again,” Jara said at the rally. “What really makes it great is that we have open arms and that we are welcoming and that we welcome people from all over the world. That’s what makes America great.” Attorney General Jeff Sessions made an announcement on Sept. 5, declaring the Obama Administration’s Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program, or DACA, “an unconstitutional exercise of authority” that must be revoked. Congress has until March 5 to come up with a legislative workaround to replace DACA partially or entirely. Marchers chanted, “No hate, no fear, immigrants are welcome here,” and “Hey, hey, ho, ho DACA students are here to stay,” as they made their way through downtown Holland. Members of the women’s protest choir Persisterhood joined the march and chimed in their own singing at points. Jocelyn Gallegos, a sophomore at Hope College and president of the Latino Student Organization, helped organize the rally and said it’s important to inform people of what the DREAM Act would do. “The DREAM Act is a segue to citizenship for all these people, who have so much potential and have so much to offer the country as a whole,” Gallegos said. Alejandra Gomez Limon, a senior at Hope College who helped organize the march and spoke at the rally, said it’s important to give people a platform to advocate as well as educate others. “I hope this is going to be a kickstart for what’s to come and it allows us to see how to go forward,” Gomez Limon said. “We have the six month deadline with DACA and this is really to get the movement started.” Amari Brown, a freshman at Hope College, attended the march and rally with Hope College sophomore Brandon Fuller. Both said they attended the events to show suppport for DACA recipients. “I hope it brings attention to the issue,” Brown said. “The worst thing that could happen at this point is for people to forget or stop thinking it’s important. We need to keep making noise then legislators will hear that and make the necessary changes.” DeBoer said the publicity from the event and the large turnout will make people pay attention to the cause. Other speakers at the rally included Cady Short-Thompson, provost at Hope College, and Rev. Gordon Wiersman, a co-pastor at Hope Church. Short-Thompson said we are all immigrants and shared stories of how the DACA rescindment has impacted the lives of recipients from an article published by the Los Angeles Times. Wiersman said the community will have to come together with dignity and respect to welcome everyone. “Part of what I want to say, as a person of faith, is that things like justice, hospitality and human dignity belong at the center of our political dialogue rather than fear and division,” Wiersman said. Jara became emotional while speaking at the rally and said this is not the America he grew up in. “I had my share of discrimination, but I knew America’s ideals and I knew this is my home,” Jara said. “Since last November, when I talk to kids I see the hopelessness in their eyes because they feel they are living in a country that hates them and hates their family.” — Follow this reporter on Twitter @SentinelJake. Source: http://www.hollandsentinel.com/news/20171101/hundreds-join-daca-march-in-downtown-holland

http://www.sandiegouniontribune.com/visuals/95008979-132.html Artists with a traveling art installation began pasting photos of San Diegans’ faces on a Liberty Station building on Monday to show support for dreamers and push Congress to pass a bill to protect them by the end of the year. The Inside Out/Dreamers project hopes the community-created public art will catch the attention of Rep. Darrell Issa, R-Vista, and convince him to support the DREAM Act, which would give green cards to unauthorized immigrants who were brought to the U.S. as children. Photo booth trucks from the project are traveling to more than 30 strategically-selected cities around the U.S. to target members of Congress the group hopes to sway in favor of the DREAM Act. “It’s a platform for everyone who believes that we need to sort out the situation for dreamers by December,” said Jaime Scatena, the truck’s lead artist. Activist groups across the U.S. who support dreamers have pressured Congress to pass a bill to protect them since the Trump administration ended the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program, or DACA, in September. After participants sat in the photo booth area to have their pictures taken, the truck printed larger-than-life copies of the photos through a slit in its side. A small crew worked with Scatena to paste the prints in a row that they hoped would eventually wrap all the way around the building. The paste is water-based and non-toxic, Scatena said. After about two hours, they had more than 13 black-and-white photos on the wall and a stack ready to go up. A small line of people waited to be photographed in front of the truck’s polka dot background. Cat Darby, a visual artist and writer who works nearby, was excited to participate after she heard what cause the project was supporting. “This is wonderful, and I think more people should be aware of the situation,” Darby said. “Visuals are a way to get the message to the public.” The Inside Out Project was started in 2011 by French street artist JR. It allows groups to start public art campaigns for different causes. Artists affiliated with the project have printed several hundred thousand photographs around the world. The Inside Out/Dreamers initiative is a collaboration between The Inside Out Project and the Emerson Collective, a social justice organization founded by Laurene Powell Jobs. The project asked local activists to talk about why they want Congress to pass the DREAM Act as the artists worked. Itzel Guillen, a DACA recipient, emphasized that people who support dreamers should be pushing for a “clean DREAM Act,” which would mean no additional enforcement measures added in as compromises to the protections given to the immigrants affected by the end of DACA. “Anything that came with strings attached would hurt our communities,” Guillen said. “San Diego County would be one of the communities that would be hurt by any legislation that would include more money for agents and more money for walls. This would put our families at risk.” Guillen, who works as an organizer at Alliance San Diego, said she appreciated the art community’s support on the issue. “They made a really bold statement supporting the DREAM Act,” Guillen said. “That was something I hadn’t seen before, using an art project to uphold the voices of DACA recipients and give them a space to speak their truth.” The photo booth truck will be taking photos at the Arts District Liberty Station again on Tuesday from 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. Source: http://www.sandiegouniontribune.com/news/immigration/sd-me-dreamers-art-20171030-story.html

Sen. Kamala Harris (D-Calif.) said Wednesday that she won't back a bill that allows the federal government to spend money unless Congress has a legislative fix to address the legal status of hundreds of thousands of people brought to the country illegally as children. "I will not vote for an end-of-year spending bill until we are clear about what we are going to do to protect and take care of our DACA young people in this country," Harris said. "Each day in the life of these young people is a very long time, and we've got to stop playing politics with their lives." President Trump announced in September that he was giving Congress until March before the program would shutter and recipients would begin losing work permits and protection from deportation. An estimated 200,000 of the nearly 800,000 recipients of the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program live in California, giving the Golden State an outsized stake in resolving their legal status. Harris spoke at a Capitol Hill news conference Wednesday with other members of the California delegation to urge quick action on the issue. "It is absolutely urgent that we pass the legislation," House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi (D-San Francisco) said. "We are determined that the Dream Act will be the law of the land before the year is out." Democrats and Republicans are negotiating the details of a fix, and when something could pass. Pelosi has hinted that if Republicans don't have the votes within their party to pass the end-of-year spending bill, which Congress has to pass to keep the government open, Democrats will offer their votes — for a price. The Huffington Post reported that House Speaker Paul Ryan (R-Wis.) told conservative Republicans behind closed doors this week that a DACA fix could be added to the spending bill, something sure to infuriate some in his party. Sen. Dick Durbin (D-Ill.) said a "bipartisan consensus" is coming together on a DACA solution that will include border security, though he didn’t provide additional details besides no border wall. Durbin said he is aiming to get a DACA fix passed before Congress considers the spending bill, which is expected to be one of the last major things lawmakers do this year, but that many Democrats in the House and Senate share Harris’ sentiment. “There are few opportunities and many things to do before the end of the session, before Christmas. We are seizing any available opportunity to move the Dream Act,” Durbin said. “Many of us feel we couldn’t in good conscience go home for Christmas without seeing this law passed.” Sen. Dianne Feinstein (D-Calif.) said that with Trump's urging, Congress should find a fix and there is "no reason not to go ahead." "I view this bill as the most important thing we can get done now — both political parties," Feinstein said. "The president is for it, hopefully he doesn't want an arm and a leg for it, but he understands how important this is and we can get it done." Source: http://www.latimes.com/politics/la-pol-ca-harris-dream-act-20171025-story.html

Congrats on your GPA!! Here in CA we have about the same rule, 3 full years of HS I personally did not; however, I do have friends who did. You've got nothing to loose...send as many applications as you can. I wish you success!

Background info I'm in CA. Mine was due to expire Nov, 2017. I submitted my documents July 1st, I just received my permit on Oct. 21. I know the wait is agonizing, specially if you have HR calling you regarding your permit, but sit tight, you will get it in no time.