It started as an idea. Later the Facebook Group was created. Now Dream Iowa is more than a Facebook page with more than 300 followers and supporter base growing every day. It is a place where DREAMers, supporters of immigration and others can come together and share information, encouragement, support and discussion.
Monica Reyes, DACA recipient, student at the University of Northern Iowa and activist, along with her sister founded DREAM Iowa.
“We started it as a Facebook group called Iowa Dreamers in which people can ask questions about the application process, get support from our community, ask for trustworthy lawyers, find people to carpool to the USCIS office in Des Moines and learn about their rights,” Reyes explained.
With the passing of the time, DREAM Iowa turned into a group that advocates for comprehensive immigration reform.
“We advocate for immigrant rights by being the voice for those who remain voiceless out of fear of being deported from the country they call their home,” Reyes said.
In addition to speaking for those who remain in the shadows DREAM Iowa also works to empower immigrants through education about immigration policies, their rights and sharing stories of DREAMers that had achieved success in spite of continuing being undocumented.
Supporting, educating and encouraging immigrants are not the only things that DREAM Iowa does. The group also looks for ways to show residents of Iowa how real the problem of a broken immigration system is.
“Most people we come across don’t really know that there is no line to get to the back of and that most immigrants are turned away by an outdated and overly backlogged immigration system,” Reyes shared her experience of communicating with Iowans.
Because the participants of the group reside all over the state of Iowa and most of them go to school full time and work, they do not meet often, but they keep in touch through internet and phone. And nowadays one does not be to always have to be physically present somewhere to be able to voice out their concerns. DREAM Iowa keeps the discussion of immigration going no matter whether it is a topic of the day or not.
It started small and it might still not be the biggest group that advocates for immigrants out there, but DREAM Iowa keeps on speaking up. Good job, DREAMers. Si, se puede!
If you wish to join DREAM Iowa you can send a request to their Facebook group Iowa Dreamers or e-mail any questions to: [email protected].
What is a DREAMer?
The term “DREAMer” has been used to describe young undocumented immigrants who were brought to the U.S. as children, who have lived and gone to school here.
The Development Relief and Education for Alien Minors Act was a bill Congress passed in 2011. This bill would grant legal status to undocumented immigrants who were brought to the United States as children and attended school here.
The term DREAMer took its name from the bill in congress
What is DACA?
Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA), President Obama’s deportation deferral program for DREAMers–undocumented young people brought to the United States as children
Under DACA, immigrants who came to the United States before turning 16, pass a background check, and meet certain other requirements (including an education requirement), can come forward and apply for temporary but renewable protection from deportation as well as work authorization.
According to the latest statistics from United States Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS), the government agency housed within the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) that is administering DACA, nearly 750,000 immigrants have applied for DACA and over 660,000 have received it.
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