NYSYLC Don't Just Dream, Act!

The Immigrant Youth Movement

With the introduction of the Dream Act bill, on March 26th 2009, thousands of undocumented youth and their allies have become re-energized and have launched the Dream Act 2009 campaign. The Dream Act, if enacted into law, would offer a 6 year path to legalization for undocumented youth who came to this country before their 16th birthday and have since graduated from high school and are enrolled in college or in the military for a minimum of two years.

While the Dream Act has yet to pass, the fight for the Dream Act over the past five years has produced a steadily growing stream of immigrant youth activists, who have become politically engaged either through high school and campus organizations, national coalitions, internet blogs, and youth projects within immigrant rights organizations. Furthermore, immigrant youth organizing is not limited to large cities that have traditionally attracted immigrant populations like Miami, New York City and Los Angeles, but also appears in regions like the South and Midwest, which have seen immigration increase rapidly in recent years.

Youth organizing around the Dream Act 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.
The NYSYLC is part of a national phenomenon led by immigrant youth and children of immigrants.

The attached map identifies some of the scope of this organizing across the national landscape. Not in New York? Find your regional affiliate below.

View Dream Act Activism in a larger map