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Undocumented Student Granted One Year Deferment
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Monday, Jun 26, 2006Statement Regarding Marie Gonzalez One-Year Deferred Deportation and the Importance of the DREAM Act
Washington DC- On Thursday, June 22, the
Center for Community Change was notified that Marie Gonzalez has
received another year of deferred deportation from the Department of
Homeland Security. Marie, an undocumented immigrant student, faced
deportation to her native Costa Rica July 1. However, thanks partly to
Senator Richard Durbin (D-Illinois), who has been helping Marie with
her case, Marie will be allowed to continue to stay in the U.S. until
July 2007. This extension is her second.
"Marie is one bright
light in this nasty immigration debate," says Center for Community
Change Executive Director Deepak Bhargava, "However, there are 65,000
other high school students that graduate each year who are being left
behind. Though they grew up in the United States, they face a barrier
to higher education, are unable to work legally, and live in a constant
state of fear that they will be detected by immigration authorities.
They deserve an opportunity to better themselves and their communities.
They deserve this just as much as any other young person in the United
States."
Marie, who begins her sophomore year this fall at
Westminster College in Fulton, Missouri, was brought to the U.S. by her
parents at the age of 5. She faced deportation in July 2005, but was
awarded a one-year extension. She has played a leading role in the
fight to pass the DREAM Act, a bill that would allow undocumented
immigrant students who have graduated from U.S. high schools to remain
here if they attend college or join the military.
"We need the
DREAM Act in order to address a very flawed aspect of our current
immigration law," says Bhargava, "we need to legally recognize that
these young people belong here and have a significant, positive
contribution to make in the country they call home. The DREAM Act moves
us one step closer to achieving the goal of developing an educated
class of promising immigrant students who can fully contribute to our
society."
Since 1968, the Center for Community Change has strengthened the leadership, voice and power of low-income communities nationwide to confront the vital issues of today and build the social movements of tomorrow.
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