Many students across the country are faced with an almost existential challenge. Undocumented students, many of whom arrived as young children and barely remember their country of birth, must often contend with the threat of deportation, being separated from their family, and being forced to live in the shadows.

Students Working for Equal Rights (SWER) is trying to do something about it. SWER Is a student led campaign affiliated with the Florida Immigrant Coalition. It works to both pass the DREAM Act, which would give young people who attend two years of college, or serve in the military for two years, a path to legal status, and challenges the deportation and detention of students that would be eligible for the DREAM Act.

SWER has done some amazing work this month. As part of a statewide day of action, student leaders from across South Florida held a protest outside of the Broward Transitional Center, where several DREAMers are being detained:

Students elsewhere in the state held film screenings and other events, asked their college presidents for endorsements of the DREAM Act, and held a statewide call-in day to urge their Senator to get more involved in this issue.

By the way, if you don’t know much about the immigrant detention “system,” then you should really learn more. The Obama administration recently announced some promising reforms, but there is much more to do.

SWER recently received an Organizing Grant through Campus Progress’s Action Alliance Program. Student and youth-led issue campaigns and movement building projects are eligible for up to $1,500 to organize for progressive social change.

Brave New Films just came out with a good new video on the DREAM Act – check it out:

This is one of many short films they will be putting out on immigration in the coming months.

Today, Senate leadership failed to win the 60 votes needed to move the DREAM Act toward a vote and delayed an opportunity to hold true to the values of our country.

Every year, approximately 65,000 qualified undocumented students graduate from high school, but are stuck in limbo without the ability to legally obtain work or access the necessary aid to attend college.

I myself am the son of two immigrant parents, both of whom emigrated from Cuba in the mid 1970’s. I grew up in Miami and went to school with many of the students who make up the ‘65,000 student’ statistic. As immigrant youth, we read the same books, watched the same TV, and went to see the same movies as our non-immigrant peers. We had the same experiences they did, but are now unable to live the same dream.

As president of the United States Student Association (USSA), representing hundreds of campuses throughout the country, I am challenging students today to come together in support of our peers whose voices are being drowned out by anti-immigrant forces.

This bill isn’t just about amnesty. It’s about hope, opportunity, and ensuring the American dream continues to exist for generations to come.

At USSA, we believe that education is a right for all, regardless of immigration status and though the recent vote is a minor setback, students will continue the fight, organizing call-in days and lobby visits, rallies and educational forums until the voice of reason echoes through the halls of the Senate and we enact the truly American DREAM into law.

--Gabriel Pendas, President, U.S. Student Association