Our History
A study released by the Migration Policy Institute reveals that there are 765,000 undocumented students from ages 13 to 18 who arrived in the U.S. before the age of 16 and about 65,000 students without immigration status graduating U.S. high schools every year. Among them are valedictorians, honor roll students, athletes, talented artists, and aspiring teachers, doctors, nurses, and lawyers. Brought to this country by their parents as young children, these young people have grown up and lived in the U.S. for most of their lives. Like their U.S. born peers, they dream of pursuing higher education and fulfilling their families’ dream of a brighter and better future. Unfortunately, due to their immigration status, they face barriers to higher education, are unable to work legally and contribute to their communities, and live in constant fear of deportation.
The introduction of the federal Dream Act in 2001 promised to change this state of limbo for a large portion of undocumented immigrant youth. 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.
In 2005, the Dream Act Task Force at the New York Immigration Coalition convened immigrant youth organizations and affected students to a meeting about what could be done to help pass this important legislation. The small group of interested activist youth and supporting immigrant rights organizations collected over 1,000 holiday cards to be delivered to NY Senators. By 2006, a small cluster of youth decided to create their own organization because no other organization in the city had the capacity to fully concentrate on the needs of immigrant youth in New York and nationally.
Since its official founding in early 2007, the New York State Youth Leadership Council has actively engaged students, educators and parents locally, regionally and nationally on behalf of equal access to higher education for immigrant students.