Schwarzenegger Vetoes CA Dream Act - Read BAMN's Press Statement

 Sept. 26 March a Success! See raw footage of the march HERE

Demand that Gov. Schwarzenegger Sign the California Dream Act!

 Win College Financial Aid for Undocumented Immigrant Students!

 No More Separate and Unequal Educational Opportunities for Latina/os and Immigrants!

FRIDAY, SEPTEMBER 26, 2008
10AM: Gather & March from César Chávez Park (10th & J St)
12PM: RALLY at the Capitol (west steps, intersection of Capitol Mall and 10th St.)

UPDATES!
9/18: Mayor of Richmond endorses the march!
9/17-18: Students hold press conferences across the state condemning racist court decision 9/11: Mayors of Berkeley and Oakland, and Sacramento endorse! See the LETTER from Tom Bates (Berkeley).
9/10: AFT 2279 contributes $5K to fund buses to Sacramento!

Download the FLYER [PDF file]

On Friday, September 26, 2008, students from across the state will march in Sacramento to the West Steps of the Capitol to call on Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger to sign the California Dream Act, SB 1301 (Cedillo). If enacted, the California Dream Act would make campus-based financial aid programs available to undocumented California students. Its passage would affect the lives of hundreds of thousands of poor and deserving students without papers who have the legal right to an education, but cannot attend college because they are discriminatorily denied access to state financial aid.

The families of undocumented students pay taxes and make an enormous contribution to California's economy and prosperity, yet their sons and daughters face the same kind of discrimination that young black students experienced in the old Jim Crow south. Undocumented students are unjustifiably denied equal educational opportunities and assigned to permanent second class status.

Every undocumented student who graduates from a California high school knows that from the moment they walk across the stage they will not have the same opportunity to go to college as their classmates, even if they are the valedictorian of their class. It is unfair and unjust to ask undocumented students to accept a situation in which their dreams are deferred because of something they could not control and cannot change—which side of the border they were born on. Having the Dream Act signed into law will establish the principle that undocumented students are the peers and equals of every other young person in California and that their right to develop their full potential will be honored and respected in this state.

BAMN and other rally organizers are inviting Senator Obama to address the Sacramento rally in order to turn his message of hope into reality for so many deserving young people in California. At a similar moment last year, Democratic presidential candidate Barack Obama called on Governor Schwarzenegger to sign the California Dream Act. In 2007, Governor Schwarzenegger vetoed the bill on the last day on which he could act. Senator Obama has also spoken out in favor of the passage of a Federal Dream Act.

For the past 15 years, California has been a backwater for the civil rights of Latina/o, black, and immigrant people. Today, we have the opportunity to turn that era around. With the nation poised to elect the first black president, and the right to gay marriage upheld in our state, this is the time to turn a corner in California to end the Jim Crow practices of denying undocumented students their equal right to go to college.

RESOURCES

• Slideshow of the Oct. 4, 2007 march for the Dream Act (follow link, and find the slideshow in the top-right corner)
• Read the California Dream Act
• Make California a Sanctuary State website

A Political Program and Perspectives for Our Movement


Opening Statement at 10th BAMN National Conference, Los Angeles, March 31, 2007) Click "More from this user" to see other parts.


"Building the New Civil Rights Movement for Immigrant Rights" - BAMN National Co-Chair Shanta Driver and student walkout leaders speak at 9th BAMN National Conference, Los Angeles, May 26, 2006)

• BAMN Declaration on Immigrant Rights

• Where We Go From Here: Report on the March 30, 2007 walkouts and perspective for our how our struggle for dignity and equality can win.

• Call to Action for Leaders of the New Civil Rights Movement: Report and perspectives coming out of the spring 2006 mass mobilizations.

• Youth Declaration for a New Civil Rights Movement

• BAMN's Principles

Slideshow of Oct. 4, 2007 March →
(Follow link and click orange box on top-right corner)

1. To reserve a seat on a bus to Sacramento, and for help with organizing, contact BAMN!
Northern California: (510) 502-9072
Southern California: (323) 317-7675
Para Español: (313) 675-5915

2. Use FACEBOOK AND MYSPACE. Join the DREAM ACT MYSPACE PAGE and list it as one of your Top Friends! Change your profile "Name" so that it says "March in Sacramento Sept. 26 for the Dream Act!" Post this MYSPACE BULLETIN to all your friends! If you see a picture, look at the SOURCE CODE. (On Internet Explorer and Firefox, it's under the "View" menu under "Source" or "Page Source") On Facebook, join the DREAM ACT FACEBOOK GROUP and get everyone you know to join!

3. Organize a contingent from your area. Use the FLYER and POSTER below to get the word out. Use the PETITION (#3 below) as a sign-up sheet for the march. Get unions, churches, community groups, and other organizations to sponsor or co-sponsor buses to Sacramento. Charge a modest bus fee if necessary to recover the costs. Call local bus companies to get bus quotes. See if supportive teachers would sponsor a field trip (sample teacher field trip forms will be available soon). Use this SAMPLE PERMISSION SLIP to enable students to get the day off. Contact BAMN to form a chapter and to get help. Use the following tools to get the word out:

FLYER - ENGLISH
Word file   PDF file

FLYER - ESPAÑOL
Word file   PDF file

POSTER  [PDF files]
English   Spanish

4. Circulate the petition! Gather a bunch of signatures, fax them to the Governor, and organize a press event presenting the petitions to a local representative of the Governor in your area. The petition is also a great tool for organizing for the statewide march and local actions, by collecting contact information in your area. Call BAMN for help:

PETITION - ENGLISH
PDF file

PETITION - ESPAÑOL
PDF file

Sign the ONLINE PETITION. Forward the URL to everyone you know! The signatures will go to California BAMN and be sent to the Governor.

5. Get your student government, school club, union, community group, school board, or other organization to endorse the march and the Dream Act. Contact BAMN (see #1 above) to add a new endorser to our growing list, which we will post on this website and publicize to the press and the Governor.

6. Organize an event in your area! Hold a school rally, march, or teach-in as part of the Statewide Week of Education & Action! Contact BAMN for help.

Partial list of supporters of the Sept. 26 March and the California Dream Act:
BAMN
Heather Fargo, Mayor of Sacramento
Ron Dellums, Mayor of Oakland
Tom Bates, Mayor of Berkeley
Gayle McLaughlin, Mayor of Richmond
US Congresswoman Loretta Sanchez
Associated Students of the Universit of California (UC-Berkeley student government)
Mark Sanchez, President, San Francisco Board of Education
MALDEF - Mexican American Legal Defense and Educational Fund
MEChA (Movimiento Estudiantil Chicano de Aztlán), Sacramento State
AFT 2279 (Sacramento/Los Rios Community College professors)
Sacramento Labor Council for Latin American Advancement (LCLAA), Sacramento & San Francisco
Dave Jones, California State Assembly
La Raza Network (Sacramento)
Frente de Mexicanos en el Exterior
Unión Cívica Primero de Mayall
Diablo Valley College Latino Student Alliance
Diablo Valley College Dream Club
Diablo Valley College Puente
Diablo Valley College Democrats
Los Medanos College La Raza Club, DVC
Sigma Lambda Beta International Fraternity Inc. (DVC)
Oakland Education Association (OEA)
La Raza Law Student Association (UCLA) Noel Gallo, Oakland School Board Director
Tom Ammiano, San Francisco Board of Supervisors Chris Dobbins, Oakland School Board Director
St. Cornelius Church, Richmond
St. Isabel Church, Los Angeles
Immigration Law Society (UCLA Law School)
Chicano Consortium, Sacramento
Glaziers Union Local 718
Rev. Ron Swisher, Taylor United Methodist Church (Oakland)
Peace and Justice Committee, St. Mary Magdalene Church, Berkeley
El Puente Program, Merritt Middle College
Joan Hollinger, Professor of Law, UC-Berkeley
Nancy Lemon, Professor of Law, UC-Berkeley

Other supporters of the California Dream Act:
California State PTA
UNITE HERE
The California Student Aid Commission (CSAC)
University of California (UC) Board of Regents
California State University (CSU) Board of Trustees
Robert Birgeneau, Chancellor of UC-Berkeley Association of Independent California Colleges and Universities (AICCU)
Asian Pacific American Legal Center of S. California
Los Angeles Unified School District
California Federation of Teachers
California Faculty Association
Associated Students Inc., California
Coalition for Humane Immigrant Rights of Los Angeles (CHIRLA)
Los Angeles Area and San Francisco Chambers of Commerce
California Hispanic Chamber of Commerce
South Bay Labor Council
Los Angeles Area Chamber of Commerce

More Immigrant Rights Campaigns: