Life in the Trenches When You are Undocumented

We need CIR now!

By: Sergio Garcia, DREAM Bar Association


Comprehensive immigration reform is not only vital to the immigrant community, but to this nation as a whole. This broken immigration system has caused a national divide pitting not only republicans against democrats, but also neighbor against neighbor. This hot button issue has managed to create second class citizens forced to live in the shadows. Luckily, the Dream Bar Association (DBA) is here to serve as the voice for all of those too tired, too timid or too weak to speak for themselves.

Given our background we are battle tested and battle ready. We have encountered a myriad of barriers, stared at them right in the eye and overcome them. We are familiar with the needs of our communities because we live in them. We have been raised in difficult situations and have learned to live with them. A recession to us is everyday life and not something newsworthy.We are here to deliver an important message; a message that must be heard by everyone in a position of power and with the ability to change the status quo in a meaningful way. We are ready, willing and able to help this nation emerge from its weakened state. We have the talent and limitless potential to be a positive driving force in effectuating the change this nation so desperately needs.

The DBA through its many undocumented lawyers will help write policy through briefs and legislation aimed at a better future. Our allies will make sure to carry our voices to the halls of justice and places we are currently kept from. Our younger generations will follow our lead.We want to see a change, but we are not sitting back and waiting for it to magically just happen. We are actively pursuing that change by informing and educating our communities, by serving as role models and beacons of hope. We are the change, we are the flowers that blossomed through concrete. We are the tangible proof that success is possible, that the American Dream remains alive and well.

We at the DBA will continue promoting a positive change and pushing for comprehensive immigration reform and our right to contribute to this great nation to our full potential. We are young, vibrant, talented entrepreneurs and we will give birth to a new tomorrow. A tomorrow where the very values that gave rise to this nation will once again revive the American dream.We will once again awaken the belief in the American dream. We will not go quietly into the night and return to the shadows, we are here to stay and to help this great nation.

DBA members bring a specialized set of skills that are not learned in any classroom or found in any book. We have the skills that can only be obtained fighting day in and day out in the trenches of life, in the trenches of an undocumented life.

The DBA members, allies and supporters urge congress and the president to set aside their differences and remember that independently of their party affiliation the people placed them there to look after this nation. This nation will not be properly looked after as long as this great divide exists, a divide caused by a broken immigration system.

Ladies and gentlemen the time for talk and niceties has long passed. The time for action and difficult decisions is upon us. Let us never forget that nothing in this life that is truly worthwhile is ever easy, but believe me it is well worth it. Doing the right thing is also never easy, but it is right, so let's do this!