Defiant “Dream 7”—Just Out of Jail—Continue Protest to Demand Legal Status for DACA Youth
December 21, 2017 | Revolution Newspaper | revcom.us
On Wednesday night, December 20, seven young undocumented immigrants along with another activist walked out of a Washington, DC jail after six days of a courageous hunger strike behind bars to demand that Dreamers receive legal status. Dreamers, like these hunger strikers known as the Dream 7, are immigrants who were brought to the U.S. without documents when they were children and had been receiving temporary protection from deportation under the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA). The day after getting out of jail, the Dream 7 were right back out on the frontlines, joining a protest at the U.S. Capitol.
In September, the Trump/Pence regime ended DACA and gave Congress six months to replace it. That deadline is fast approaching, and beginning in early March some 700,000 to 800,000 Dreamers who have grown up and lived most all their lives in the U.S. could begin to face deportation. There have been protests around the country against the government’s threats to deport the Dreamers.
The Dream 7 and another person were arrested on Friday, December 15 after engaging in civil disobedience outside the offices of Democratic NY Sen. Chuck Schumer and Republican Florida Rep. Carlos Curbelo. In jail, they began a hunger strike to demand that Schumer and the Democrats push through a “clean” Dream Act, as part of a spending bill being taken up in Congress, giving legal protection to the Dreamers—and not make deals with Trump and accept heightened border “security” and other anti-immigrant measures.
Cata Santiago, one of the Dream 7 said, “Time and time again politicians have failed to stand by our community. Now, at the peak of the Dream Act fight, Chuck Schumer and the Democrats won’t hold their promises to protect us. That’s why, after sacrificing so much in jail for these six days, we are leaving now—because we need to continue mobilizing. The only way we will win is by fighting for our community ourselves, and not relying on politicians like Schumer who just end up letting us down and betraying Dreamers.”
These young fighters are putting a lot on the line with their courageous action and stand. They are an inspiration to others to get out into the streets against the anti-immigrant attacks and other fascist outrages and demand that this regime must go!
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