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The Trail of Dreams 2010 is a 1,500 mile walk from Miami, Florida, to Washington, D.C. that four students created to support the passing of the DREAM Act- proposed federal legislation that would provide conditional resident status to undocumented students of good moral character.[1]
Background
The Trail of Dreams walk began on January 1st, 2010 in Miami, Florida. Four Miami-Dade County college students- Felipe Matos, Gaby Pacheco, Carlos Roa, and Juan Rodriguez- walked the 1,500 miles to the United States capitol in Washington, D.C. The main purpose of the Trail of Dreams walk was to promote human rights, stop the deportations of current undocumented students and to support the DREAM Act.[2] Three of the four students were brought to the United States illegally when they were children. They called for immigration reform and legislation that will allow eligible illegal immigrants to obtain citizenship in the United States.[3]
The Trail of Dreams chose Washington, D.C. as their endpoint in order to request a meeting with President Barack Obama. They hoped to urge him to use his executive powers to stop the deportation of immigrant students who were brought to the United States illegally.[1]
One of the walkers, Juan Rodriquez, outlined the Trail of Dreams stance in four statements:
WE MUST respect the rights of workers.
WE MUST fulfill equal accessibility to education.
WE MUST have a just and humane pathway to full citizenship.
WE MUST protect the sacred bonds and unity of our families![4]
The press referred to the four student walkers as "DREAMers" or "Dream Walkers".
The Journey
The Trail began in Miami, Florida at the Miami Freedom Tower. It continued through a variety of small towns in city in Florida. The DREAMers took time to drive out to St. Augustine, Florida to celebrate Martin Luther King Day. They traveled through Georgia and made a stop in Atlanta where they spoke with local politicians and the mayor.
The Trail of Dreams traveled through South Carolina, North Carolina, Virginia, and into Washington D.C. The four DREAMers arrived in D.C. on Wednesday, April 28th, 2010. At 9:15 AM a press conference was held between East and West Executive Avenues near the White House. They were joined by immigration reform allies from the Florida Immigrant Calition, Students Working for Equal Rights, Presente.org and others. The Trail of Dreams then completed their journey with a walk to the National Press Club. This walk included many immigrant students and allies.
Methods
- The Trail of Dreams adhered to model of nonviolence as modeled by Martin Luther King Jr.[5] used a variety of methods to educate and promote their goals:
- Press conferences to denounce supporters of legislation against immigrants
- Fasting
- Peaceful civil disobedience actions throughout the country
- Calling and emailing local communities' Members of Congress- unspecified number of calls were made to Members of Congress urging them to pass the DREAM Act
- Lobbying
- Signed Petition- Over 30,000 signatures were gathered throughout the 1,500-mile journey[6]
Support
Local
The Trail of Dreams found support from communities in every area they passed through on their 1,500-mile journey. Supporters provided food, shelter, encouragement and money. Many supporters participated in the walk with the four DREAMers. In Jupiter, Florida, around 70 people, many of them day laborers from Guatamala, joined the walk through their town.[7]
The Lake Worth, Florida City Commissioner, Cara Jennings, declared January 6th as Dreamer’s Day in honor of the four students visit to the area. [1]
In Atlanta, Georgia the DREAMers were assisted by joined by over 200 people and the Georgia Tech marching band on the last 1.5 miles of their walk that particular day. They were also assisted by the local First Iconium Baptist Church which held a meeting that over 300 supporters attended.[8]
New Movement Support
The Trail of Dreams inspired five immigrant students from New York to embark on their own walk. The New Your Trail of Dreams was a 250-mile journey that began on April 10th, 2010. The five students- Marisol Ramos, Martin Lopez, Daniela Hidalgo,Jose Luis Zacatelco and Gabriel Martinez- walked through communities to raise awareness for the struggles of undocumented students and to promote the immediate passing of the DREAM Act.
Opposition
On February 20th, 2010 the DREAMers drove to Nahunta, Georgia where they encountered a Ku Klux Klan organizing an anti-immigrant demonstration. The NAACP organized an opposition rally to the demonstration and the Trail of Dream walkers joined them in protesting. DREAMer Juan Rodriguez blogged about the experience: "Ultimately, the success of today was to be able to stand hand in hand with our friends from the NAACP; singing liberation songs together and acknowledging our united struggle for racial justice. We ALL deserve to be treated with dignity and respect."[9]
On March 3rd, 2010 the DREAMers walked through Gwinnett County in Georgia. Gwinnett County is home to Sheriff "Butch" Conway, a supporter of the Immigration and Nationality Act Section 287(g). "287(g)" is a federal prevision authorizing local law enforcement to enforce federal immigration laws.[10] Sheriff Conway has voiced that the accusations of racial profiling in order to uphold "287(g)" are false but acknowledges that the Gwinnett County Sheriff's office has the authority to work with U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement(ICE)on identifying illegal immigrants if brought into the county jail.[11] The DREAMers believed that the federal provision led to the deportation of hundreds of immigrants in Gwinnett County over the course of three months. Cite error: A <ref> tag is missing the closing </ref> (see the help page).
Notes
- ^ a b c Howard, Willie. "Post Staff Writer". Pro-immigration 'dream' walkers make chilly stop in Lake Worth. The Palm Beach Post News. Retrieved 4 December 2011.
- ^ "The Purpose". Al Dia News. Retrieved 4 December 2011.
- ^ Editorial. "Immigration's New Year". New York Times. Retrieved 4 December 2011.
- ^ Rodriguez, Juan. "New Year's Day 2010". Trail of Dreams Blog.
- ^ stugenewswire. St. Augustine Florida News http://staugnews.com/2010/01/18/students-stop-in-st-augustine-during-1500-mile-%E2%80%98trail-of-dreams%E2%80%99-walk-for-immigration-reform.html. Retrieved 3 December 2011.
{{cite web}}: Missing or empty|title=(help) - ^ "Press Release". Trail of Dreams Blog.
- ^ "Laughter". Trail of Dreams Blog. Retrieved 4 December 2011.
- ^ Lee, Jessica. "Undocumented Students Face Down Georgia Sheriff". The Indypendent News. Retrieved 3 December 2011.
- ^ "The Trail of Dreams Encounters the KKK". Restore Fairness Website. Retrieved 3 December 2011.
- ^ Cite error: The named reference
The Indypendentwas invoked but never defined (see the help page). - ^ "Sheriff Conway's Rebuttal". Gwinnett County Sheriff's Office website. Retrieved 3 December 2011.