Great scholarship opportunity for Dreamers!

TheDream.US provides college scholarships to highly motivated DREAMers who want to get a college education but cannot afford it. The scholarships will help cover up to $25,000 of tuition and fees for an associate’s or bachelor’s degree at one of the organization's Partner Colleges.

The organization "Partner Colleges" are spread throughout the United States, but in California are University of La Verne, UC Santa Cruz, UC Merced, San Jose State University, San Francisco State, Mt. San Antonio College, Long Beach City College, De Anza Community College, Cal State San Bernardino, Cal State Long Beach, and Cal State East Bay.

No, no Hartnell, MPC, or CSUMB.

This scholarship is available to high school seniors or high school graduates with demonstrated financial need who are first time college students and be eligible for Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals or DACA.

Deadline to apply is Feb. 15. For more information, click here.

Children born in the U.S. in Mexican schools

Caused no doubt by an increase in deportations from the United States, schools in Mexico have seen a surge of students born in "El Norte."

More than 300,000 children born abroad are now attending Mexican schools. The vast majority -- nearly 290,000 -- were born in the United States. 

In some cases, the increase is beyond dramatic. Guanajuato, historically one of the largest "exporters" of migrants, saw a return of more than 16,000 children in 2013.

Check out this cool info map and the numbers all broken down by state. The Mexican Institute for Women in Migration also put together this info story by the numbers, definitely worth checking out.

Hartnell students bring law student and immigration activist for talk

The Liberty Initiative in association with the Associated Students of Hartnell College hosts Sergio Garcia for a talk on the need for immigration reform.

Sergio Garcia was brought to the United States illegally as a child. After attaining a law degree and passing the bar, Sergio was denied a license to practice law because of his immigration status. The presentation will focus on Sergio's personal struggle and current immigration policies.

The Liberty Initiative is an organized group of young professionals with the drive to be the change they want to see in the world.

Contact: info@thelibertyinitiative.org for more information on this event.

The presentation will take place from 7:30 to 8:30 p.m. on March 8, 2013, at the Student Center of Hartnell College, 411 Central Ave, Salinas.

"Dreamers" can now apply for financial aid online

The California Student Aid Commission has now made Dream Act Applications for undocumented immigrant students available on its website.

Approved last year, the California Dream Act allows access to public financial aid, including Cal Grants, for undocumented students who came to the country before turning 16 and attended California high schools.

For more information or to access the application, click here.

Dreamers: add your voice to "The Dream is Now"

Santa Cruz native and filmmaker extraordinaire Alex Ivany has been interning with documentarian Davis Guggenheim (An Inconvenient Truth, Waiting for Superman) on a movement that is pushing for immigration reform by way of the DREAM Act. According to an email he sent to friends and family, in spring he will be releasing a 20-30 minute documentary which will premier on Capitol Hill about the Dream Act, legislation that would grant immigrants brought illegally as children to the United States a path to citizenship.

As part of the document, Ivany has launched an interactive website for "Dreamers" to add their voices to the discussion.

So add your voice! And wait for the documentary.

Dan Soudran brought a 30-foot gray whale to Greenfield

Some days I get to meet amazing people. Today was one of those.

Dan Soudran, founder of Community Science Workshops, came to Greenfield to show students at Vista Verde Middle School the skeleton of a 30-ft whale that got beached on Half Moon Bay.

Soudran came up with the idea of starting community science workshops about two decades ago, and his network has nearly a dozen in rural areas like Greenfield and Watsonville. I've been wanting to interview him for a while, so today, even though I was supposed to be on vacation, I came in to talk to him.

It was a real treat. Dan's energy and enthusiasm for getting children inspired about science is contagious. The students really got into exploring the bones, even tried to use a cow hip like a mask.



Plus, he likes Antonio Machado, one of my favorite poets! In the middle of our interview, he quoted Machado's most famous poem, "Caminante, no hay camino. Se hace camino al andar."

There are no roads. We make the roads as we walk.

What a treat! Dan, come back soon!

Youth voting, civing engagement and knowledge

Perhaps because of the presidential election, civic engagement among youth emerged as one of the topics that piqued my interest. So I was happy to learn that CIRCLE, a center for the study of youth engagement at Tufts University, has formed a nonpartisan commission to analyze data on young Americans’ civic knowledge and voting, then issue recommendations for how to improve both.

The commission was formed in response to controversies about recent voting laws (for instance, new state photo ID laws in several states) as well as debates about civic education in schools and colleges.

The commission begins with no position on the existing or proposed policies; its deliberations will be influenced by new data collected during and immediately after the 2012 election.

The commission will be comprised of a bipartisan group of 14 scholars and experts from across the country and will conclude its work in the spring of 2013 with a comprehensive report outlining recommendations on how to strengthen the civic participation of America’s youth.

For more information about the commission, click here.

I can hardly wait for the report!

Monterey youth: apply for the Immigrant Youth Achievement Award

Here's one of my favorite dreams: that one of the young, talented immigrants I've profiled wins the American Immigration Council’s annual Immigrant Achievement Awards.

José Hernández, I'm looking at you! ;-)

But anyone else from the Central Coast would make me happy.

The Immigrant Youth Achievement Award celebrates high-achieving young immigrants, whose personal accomplishments and contributions demonstrate the impact young immigrants are having on our nation every day.

Here's the requirements:

• Candidates must be between the ages of 14 and 25 years of age on April 11, 2013;
• They must be an immigrant to the United States, including those who have become naturalized citizens.
• His or her accomplishments must reflect more than personal success and should have evidence of a commitment to making a positive impact in their community or the world around them;

For more information and submit a nomination, click here. Only emailed submissions are accepted. Deadline: February 1, 2013.

Monterey hosts a "deferred action" talk

I heard some Monterey teachers wonder why a presentation about this topic wasn't given in their back yard.

Well, now it is. 

The Global Majority Student Club at the Monterey Institute of International Studies and Amnesty International will co- host a presentation on the new Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals policy, facilitated by immigration attorney Blanca Zarazua.

The new policy, commonly referred to as "deferred action," allows immigrants brought to this country illegally as children to obtain a work permit as long as they meet certain requirements. This presentation is designed to provide information about the policy and the application process, as well as immigration in Monterey County in general.

 This event is free and open to the public.  It will take place from 6 to 8 p.m. in Room B109 of the Morse building at 426 Van Buren Street in Monterey. For more information, click here.

Salinas high to hold information session on Deferred Action

Deferred action, a program by the Obama administration to give work permit to undocumented youth who arrived in the United States as minors, is the major change to immigration rules in almost 20 years, and potential petitioners have a lot of questions about it.

Interestingly, I haven't seen any informational event scheduled in the Monterey Peninsula. From what I hear, there's demand for these sessions over there too.

The Salinas Union High School District will host a free information session on Deferred Action. Information to be provided are eligibility requirements and on how to begin to prepare a case. The presentation will also include a panel of attorneys to available to answer questions regarding the petition process.

The event will take place Saturday, Sept. 22 from 6 to 8 p.m. at the Performing Arts Center of Salinas High School, 726 S. Main St., Salinas. For more information, call Julia Grant at 796-7867 or Laura Orozco at 796-7869.

More information sessions coming up on "Deferred Action"

Congressman Sam Farr will host an information session on the "Deferred Action" program for immigrant youth this Friday, Aug. 31, from 4:30 to 6:30 p.m. at El Sausal Middle School in East Salinas.

Also present to answer question will be James T. Wyrough, director of the U.S. Citizenship and Immigrations Services, San Jose Field Office, Doug Keegan from the Santa Cruz County Immigration Project, and Jorge Sifuentes from Catholic Charities.

Deferred Action is a program authorized by the Obama administration to stop deportation proceedings for young immigrants who arrived illegally in the United States before they were 16, have committed no major crimes, and have finished high school or a GED.

An estimated 8,000 people in Congressional District 17 - which includes San Benito, Santa Cruz, and Monterey Counties -- could be eligible, and judging by the workshops already conducted, there's a lot of interest in participating.

Theresa Carbajal, a counselor at Hartnell, says her students are being told local attorneys are charging a pretty penny to fill out the forms, so she's helping organize an event being called "Central Coast Dreamers Marathon." Scheduled for Sept. 8 and 9, organizers are trying to go all out with it: music, food, you name it. And, of course, help filling out the application for free. Organizers are still looking for volunteers, so call Yuliana Vasquez or Laura Cabrera at the office of Assemblyman Luis Alejo at 759 8676 or email Laura.Cabrera@asm.ca.gov for more information.

Do you qualify for "deferred action"?

Take this "self-test" and find out if you could qualify for "deferred action," Obama's program to stop deporting undocumented youth.

Brought to you courtesy of Houston immigration attorney Laurel Scott.

More workshops about Obama's plan to stop deporting undocumented youth

The Mexican Consulate and the American Lawyers Association will host a second workshop on "deferred action," the plan by the Obama administration to stop deporting undocumented youth and give them a two-year-work permit as long as they meet certain conditions. Attorneys will clarify what requisites are needed to qualify for the program and clarify what the action will and will not do.

The workshop will take place from 6 to 8 p.m. Friday, July 27, in the cafeteria of Hartnell College, 411 Center Ave., Salinas.

Why bilinguals are smarter

Having witnessed the immigration/cultural battles for a long time, I'm not surprised when people tell me to "speak English" when speaking Spanish, or when people accuse me and other Latinos of not wanting to "integrate" into the fabric of the U.S. just because I hold on to my mother tongue.

What's baffling is encountering education professionals who believe that children who learn Spanish have a hard time learning English. As if the brain was a vessel with just one liter capacity for languages, and if you fill half of it with Spanish, well, English won't have the room it deserves.

But it doesn't work that way. Languages, I've come to imagine, are like love: you can't have enough of them.

It's been great to see more and more reports come out detailing the effects of bilingualism in the brain. I experience it. I'm talking to my mother in Spanish one minute, answering my boss in English the next, and it's like my brain has flipped effortlessly, like a ballerina at the Bolshoi. It's beautiful.

My mother's learning American Sign Language, and she tells me now she understands more English as a result. Languages: you can't have enough of them.

Dreamers keep fighting

Juan Santiago was brought to the United States as a child, and he discovered he was undocumented sometime around the immigration marches of 2007. He didn't know it then, he said, but that's when he became an activist. The Madera student now lobbies for the passage of the federal Dream Act (which would grant legalization for undocumented students after meeting certain requirements) and the California Dream Act, half of which was approved last week. The second half is stuck in legislative limbo, his chances of passage appearing more slim.

I met Juan and a group of young students at UCSC, my alma mater, where they were learning how to document their own stories. Juan is a Zapotec Indian from Oaxaca, Mexico, and indigenous groups have often been documented by outsiders. Jonathan Fox of UCSC had the idea to have these youths acquire the tools to tell their own stories.

They are a lively, engaged group. They were mostly from the California's Central Valley, although there was one young woman from Salinas. They're all bright, politically active. And they realize their struggle is long term: the passage of the federal Dream Act is probably not going to happen during this session, but they'll keep at it.

Juan is a bit upset because the public in general has been confusing the passage of half of the California Dream Act -- which will allow undocumented students to receive private scholarships -- with the whole enchilada. No, Juan has told people. We have not gained legal status. This is just a small portion of what they're fighting for, he says.

"It's so frustrating," he said. "People have told me, 'Now you're legal, right?' I have to explain the whole thing."

And there's more to come, Juan says. Next: the fight for the rights of indigenous peoples. Here and everywhere.

If you want to hear more about Juan, here's his blog.

of teachers and immigrant kids

A new story by AP reporters is highlighting what I pointed out in an earlier post: when it comes down to undocumented children, teachers are at the forefront of the battle.

And recently approved legislation in Alabama is trying to make teachers act as ICE agents. Signed by Gov. Robert Bentley last month, the law requires schools to find out whether students are legally present in the country. The law is being challenged in the courts.

There's really nothing new about trying to figure out whether children are in the United States legally or not. In California, Prop. 187 would have denied schooling to undocumented children, but the voter-approved legislation was struck down by the courts. What's new is the renewed vigor on the topic, and how widespread it's become.

A Pulitzer-prize winner journalist comes out as an undocumented immigrant

and his story is being passed around at an unprecedented rate.

Jose Antonio Vargas, a former reporter with The Washington Post and several newspapers in the San Francisco Bay Area, has published a first-person account in the New York Times Magazine of what it means to be living illegally in the United States. I've covered immigration for over a decade, and rarely have I seen this type of narrative, from a person who has achieved so much and has so much at stake, in such a visible place. No wonder it's being posted and reposted all over the Internet.

Vargas came to the United States when he was 12, and what's most touching of Vargas' story is the extent to which his teachers attempted to make him feel welcome, accepted, even when he came out of the undocumented closet. The choir director at Mountain View High changed plans to go to Japan and instead took the group to Hawaii so Vargas could attend -- without proper documentation, he can't leave the United States.

Vargas came out partially to promote his new organization, Define American, which he hopes will help change the conversation about immigration in this country -- undocumented immigrants can be found in many echelons of society. And to promote the Dream Act, the federal proposal to give legal status to young people who were brought to this country illegally as children.

It will be interesting to follow the conversation that ensues. Some very thoughtful comments have already been posted on the story. Some are the usual reaction. If nothing else, perhaps it will be another push to approve the Dream Act.

Of smart immigrant children and their teachers

Seventy percent of finalists in a national science talent search competition were the children of immigrants, according to a new study by the National Foundation for American Policy. Which has led many headline writers to blare the news "Children of Immigrants are Smarter." Read down a bit further and you'll find that these 28 talented young people are either of Chinese or Indian lineage, and that 60 percent of them have parents who entered the United States with a visa reserved for highly skilled immigrants -- many to be employed as engineers or scientists. In other words, not all immigrants are equal.

Immigrants come in many shapes and forms, and this study should not be used to conclude that children of immigrants are smarter than children born of native parents in the United States. However, the strong work ethic of the vast majority of immigrants, coupled with the top-notch education of their parents, make the accomplishment of these children almost a foregone conclusion.

This is not to take away from the accomplishments of these young people, but to point out something that's been brewing in the news for quite some time: the desire in some quarters to link teacher performance to their students test scores. No matter how much experts counter there are other factors that influence students grades, the move to blame teachers for their students shortcomings is alive and well.

The study by the NFAP should give everyone pause: the common denominator these of highly achieving students was not their teachers, but their highly successful parents. Their work ethic. As Prof. Paul Thomas of Furman University writes for The New York Times, this whole emphasis on grading the teachers is diverting from the real issue: poverty. A child who's hungry cannot learn. A child whose father's worried about getting evicted from their home has more worrisome things on his mind than learning the time tables. A child whose mother barely finished high school will have a very, very difficult time going on to college. It is well known that the best predictor of a child's educational attainment is their parent's level of education. It makes one wonder why, then, all this emphasis on teachers' performance.

There are many conclusions that can be drawn from the NFAP brief, and it will be used by many in the immigration debate to bolster their own agendas. Hopefully, it will also be used to reinforce, once again, that the most important factor of academic performance is how well educated and how involved the parents of a student are.