September 7, 2023 • 26 mins
Between 2006 and 2007, millions of people took to the streets to fight for immigration reform. The protests reached a climax on May 1st, 2006. The day would later be nicknamed, A Day Without An Immigrant. Did La Gran Marcha influence the Dreamer Movement?
On this episode, Patty and Erick tackle whether the marches of '06 and '07 impacted how a group of undocumented students took on the government and won.
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Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:11):
It's May seventeen, twenty ten, a sweltering, dry Monday in Arizona.
By noon, the temperature climbed to ninety degrees, pretty typical
weather for the Sonoran Desert. But this is not your
typical day, because something incredible is about to go down.
In Senator John mckein's office in Tucson, five brown college
(00:34):
kids dressed in blue caps and gowns enter his office
and stage an old school sit in. It's a bold move.
They are essentially trespassing and at risk of getting arrested
or even worse. The pressure is so much that one
of the protesters bows out, leaving just four Braula Caraca,
(00:58):
Lisbeth Matteo, Mohammed mo Abdullahi, and Jahira Ca. They sit
smiling with legs crossed, urging Senator McCain to support the
Dream Act, a bill that would, among other things, create
a pathway to legalization for undocumented immigrants. You see, McCain
(01:21):
had previously supported the bill, but at this point it's
considering a run for president, and pulled his support to
try and please the Republican's conservative base. The protesters refuse
to leave until McCain agrees to flip flop back to
supporting the bill, even when security comes, even when the
(01:42):
police come, they hold.
Speaker 2 (01:44):
Their position.
Speaker 1 (01:47):
Until finally the four college kids are arrested. It's a
powerful move and a brave one because three of the
four protesters risking their safety for the rights of immigrants
are themselves undocumented. Lizbeth, mo Yahida, all of whom are undocumented,
(02:12):
knew that they could be arrested. They knew they might
get deported. They planned for it. They knew how it
would look to deport peaceful students demanding rights. And it's
not that they weren't scared, but it was their way
of telling the world to care about their struggle. They
(02:33):
wanted people to pay attention to the Dream Act and
how it could change their lives. It was a tool
to create pressure on elected officials to please God, do something,
do something about this country's broken immigration system.
Speaker 2 (02:53):
I'm Patti Rodriguez and I'm Mary Glendo.
Speaker 1 (02:57):
This is Out of the Shadows, a podcast America's Tangled
History of immigration. Last season, we tackled Ronald Reagan's nineteen
eighty six Amnesty Act. This season, we're tracing the origins
of DACA, or Deferred Action for childhood arrivals. A contentious
executive order to protect undocumented young people from being.
Speaker 3 (03:18):
Deported issued by former President Obama in twenty twelve. DACA
was meant to be a temporary stop gap on a
broken immigration system. It was like putting a bucket under
a leaky roof, But with multiple Supreme Court challenges and
looming presidential elections, the roof feels like it can collapse
(03:38):
at any moment, impacting the US economy, American culture as
we know it. Meanwhile, the future of millions of lives
hang in the balance. Welcome to out of the shadows, Dreamers.
Speaker 4 (04:01):
Eric.
Speaker 2 (04:02):
Do you remember March in two thousand and six.
Speaker 3 (04:04):
Yeah, I was covering it from my community college newspaper,
the Talent Marks. Yeah.
Speaker 1 (04:10):
And I was there too, covering it for the radio
morning show. And for those who don't remember, the protests
began in response to a proposed legislation that would raise
penalties for legal immigration and classify undocumented immigrants and anyone
who helped them enter into the US as felons.
Speaker 3 (04:30):
I didn't even know that back then, to be honest,
all I knew was it was a day without a
Mexican and we were all going to go to downtown La.
Speaker 2 (04:38):
Oh, and we all came together.
Speaker 3 (04:39):
That's right, over one.
Speaker 1 (04:41):
Million people just in downtown Los Angeles.
Speaker 3 (04:43):
It was just in LA So it was all over
the country. They were doing it.
Speaker 1 (04:47):
Yeah, and this is written in history as the largest
protest ever because these are the parents of the Dreamers
who were fighting for their humanity. I believe these marchas
in two thousand and six is what inspired the Dreamers
to see the power in numbers, to see that they
(05:11):
were not alone in this fight, and maybe in a
way gave them the courage to come out of the
shadows themselves.
Speaker 3 (05:19):
Yeah, it was definitely a moment for sure. The history
of immigrants organizing during that time was like a Gordian knot,
or like pulling out wired headphones from your pocket. It's tangled.
Speaker 4 (05:36):
Well.
Speaker 3 (05:36):
The Dreamer movement is so closely tied to the Dream
Act and education. The Six Marches were like an incubator
for the movement. Sure, people marched to end a different bill,
but it was a coalition of immigrants of all kinds,
a united front of millions.
Speaker 5 (05:53):
The Dreamers had already they had already been coalescing as
a community.
Speaker 3 (05:58):
That's the one and only Mightysa, a Mexican American Pulitzer
Prize winning journalist and host of the hit PRX radio
show Latino USA.
Speaker 5 (06:08):
Why because what would happen is that you know, they
would end up in college if they were able to.
And then their identification, whether they were from Africa or
Korea or Venezuela or Argentina. One of their primary identifiers
(06:31):
was to be an undocumented student. And they formed those
allegiances right across ethnicities, race, cultural backgrounds, national identities. And
this to me is kind of extraordinary about the Dreamer movement.
It is, yes, in many ways a Latino Latina LATINX
movement in Tendido, but it is also encompassing of all immigrants,
(06:57):
right and refugees, and there's no race upon which that
is only dedicated to them, right, So I think that
was really really powerful.
Speaker 3 (07:08):
Laganan Mancha was like someone sent out a bat signal
to the Latin diaspora across the US.
Speaker 5 (07:15):
And I think that again, the marches in like Chicago, Dallas, LA.
The marches that stood out half a million people in Chicago,
half a million people in Dallas, Dyosmil. I think it
was close to a million in LA.
Speaker 2 (07:34):
In New York. It was smaller, but what it was
in New York was Dodo.
Speaker 3 (07:39):
Mundo laganon Mancha helped kill a bill that would have
made undocumented people in the US felons. And it showed
the power of community and of organizing a little fire
that many people hope would change immigration policies in a
big way, maybe even lead to the dreamac passing. But
(07:59):
as we say, history isn't that simple.
Speaker 5 (08:14):
What I'm really haunted and obsessed by is the capacity
of this country, and it's in humanity towards people who
were simply were not born in this country. And then
you have a reality in terms of the immigrant experience,
which is that you are not only less than human,
but you are also labeled illegal.
Speaker 1 (08:36):
In two thousand and seven, on the anniversary of the
Six Marches, hundreds of thousands of immigrants still shut up
to protest on May Day in California. The protest ended
with police attacking peaceful protesters, many of whom were families
with children. So just imagine for a minute, you're pleading
(08:57):
for humanity, peacefully holding your innocent child's hand, and the
police respond with swinging batons and a rapid fire of
rubber bullets. The protesters were pleading for a solution on
(09:18):
the issue of immigration and demanding the end of workplace
raids and deportations. By two thousand and eight, the protesting
flames started to dim a bit, but thousand still marched
in May, especially in Milwaukee. Messages plastered on signs demanded
the end of raids. The US supported close to three
hundred thousand people in seven, close to a fifty percent increase.
(09:43):
The protestant marches also flirted up anti immigrant groups such
as Numbers USA, whose membership numbers went from one hundred
thousand to six hundred thousand. But the marches had an impact,
as Antonio vi Ja Ragosa, Eli's may at the time
asked DHS to end the workplace rates, citing in a
(10:05):
study that fifty percent of those deported we're working in
local industries and could create further harm on the economy.
By two thousand and nine, the protesters took it to
a more sophisticated level by coordinating civil disobedience through Internet
communities and text messages. Again, I want to emphasize that
(10:25):
the undocumented students let the fight for immigration reform for themselves,
and they were bold Mahmie.
Speaker 3 (10:32):
Eric Guadata was one of those organizers.
Speaker 4 (10:36):
We called ourselves Dreamers because you were trying to pass
lesislation that was called the Dream Act.
Speaker 6 (10:41):
So it made it easier and it made it ring
in people's minds, right, especially when you're talking of politicians
who are always getting yelled at for so many different
things that oh shit, I remember those who Those are
the dreamers.
Speaker 7 (10:53):
Who came to my office and got arrested. Those are
the dreamers who came here when they were like babies
and they assimilated to society, but they're still undocumented. So
it was it was a double edged sword because for
so many years in the beginning of the movement, we
were pushing the dream bag right, like this is the legislation,
this is the bill that is going to fix everything,
(11:14):
all the way up until twenty ten. So up after
twenty ten, like that just became part of the lexicon.
Speaker 3 (11:21):
He went, is the dreamer movement grow in real time
and the organizing became more and more frequent.
Speaker 4 (11:28):
So in terms of the way the movement grew, in
terms of like doing non violent actions and figure out
different ways to get people's attention or just to put
people's day up.
Speaker 7 (11:38):
We escalated over the years in terms of cool, We're
gonna have a teaching cool, We're gonna have a community
media cool, We're gonna have an open house.
Speaker 4 (11:45):
Each time the event gets bigger and bigger and bigger
and more and more.
Speaker 8 (11:49):
Personal, to the point that when documented students started about
doing civil disobedience and getting arrested, and that's when like
should just stop off in terms of like.
Speaker 4 (11:57):
Now we are thinking about what's going to happen.
Speaker 3 (12:01):
At one point the organizers started worrying that they were
being watched by the cheese muscles at the FBI.
Speaker 4 (12:09):
Were you going to be monitored? And in many ways
I think we were.
Speaker 9 (12:12):
Especially just because of the nature of things when, especially
when you get arrested in front of the federal headquarters
in the West Side, when you start fucking with like
the FBI and at the time too President Obama and
the presidential office, you're gonna have eyes on you no
matter what.
Speaker 4 (12:28):
So whether anything happened from that, I don't know.
Speaker 8 (12:31):
But there were instances right where we could just like
point to each other and be.
Speaker 10 (12:36):
Like, your phone's not working right, Yeah, no, my phone
sounds weird, Like we're not getting any reception, you know,
weird phone calls things like that, like trying to trying
to figure out if we've seen that person before a meeting.
Speaker 4 (12:48):
Before and who are they?
Speaker 8 (12:49):
And as many you know, news organizations have proved over
these last couple of years, especially with the Black Lives
Matter movement, that there is a modern day hotel pro happening,
and you know, activist spaces are being metiltrated and they
are being you know, turned into against folks to criminalize them.
So it wasn't the same as it is today, but
(13:10):
for sure it was a concern to be monitored.
Speaker 1 (13:18):
But even still, what all these fears and pressures, Maria,
I know, hoos success. They put themselves in harm's way
to fight. When I saw the activists do that ridiculously
bold move of going over and taking over brock Obama's
campaign offices, whoa I mean, talk about putting your body
(13:44):
on the line, talk about giving it your all selflessness,
of sacrifice for the greater good, and of a brilliant
political move.
Speaker 5 (13:56):
Frankly was extraordinary.
Speaker 1 (14:00):
A year later, in twenty ten, the Dream Act was
up for a vote again. That same year, dreamers showed
up at the offices of politicians to demand its passage.
We'll hear from them after the break.
Speaker 3 (14:32):
Twenty ten was a huge year for the Dreamer movement.
The Dream Act was up for a vote again. It's
still guaranteed a path to legalization for immigrant children who
got here before the age of sixteen. This was going
to be the year it passed, and the Dreamers did
everything in their power to ensure that. Lizabeth Matteo, one
(14:54):
of the undocumented protesters from the top of the show,
had been organizing for years advocate for the bill, and
her involvement grew when she found her community.
Speaker 11 (15:07):
I was at that first meeting when United was being
was formed as an organization. That's where I met Muhammad
and other undocumented against people.
Speaker 3 (15:17):
She's referring to. Mohammed mo Abdullahi, another one of the
protesters who donned a cap and gown with Lizabeth.
Speaker 12 (15:25):
I got involved in immigration stuff just sort of from
like a selfish place, which is I needed something that
would help myself as someone who was undocumented lived here
since I was three years old.
Speaker 3 (15:37):
Moe's an undocumented immigrant from Iran. He and his family
have been living in an arbor since he was three.
His fear of deportation was even more pronounced because he
feared he'd face a worse fate in Iran as a
gay man.
Speaker 12 (15:52):
I think the first time, my mom just told me
that there's something called the Dream Act, but not to
google it because the police would find us. And so
the first thing I did is I googled it and
found out that there was a community of folks just
like myself that were online trying to advocate for the
Dream Act.
Speaker 3 (16:09):
Yet despite that anxiety, he still felt compelled to get involved.
It was scarier to be left in limbo. Mo became
an activist after he applied to enroll at Eastern Michigan
University and wasn't accepted because of his status, even though
he had saved up enough money that led him to
(16:29):
become a Dreamer, although they weren't calling it that yet.
Speaker 12 (16:34):
So when I found out about dream BacT, it was
two thousand and seven, maybe late two thousand and six, Yeah, yeah,
it was close to the end of two thousand and
six is when I first found out about it and
sort of got involved, just online, sort of a community
talking to other undocumented folks, not too much activism and
the Dreamer name. We were initially calling it Dreamy with
(16:57):
an Ie and then point it turned into Dreamer. One
of the first projects that we undertook was we sort
of recognized the importance of telling our stories and so
we just reached out to other Dreamers. Hey, this can
be anonymous, you can use whatever nickname you want. It's
important for people to know that we exist and that
(17:18):
were their friends, coworkers, neighbors, and so that was sort
of like the first project that we took up in
the Shadows.
Speaker 1 (17:34):
After Mo and Lizbeth met, they strategized on how to
get people to care about the bill. But there was
one moment that inspired that McCain action. One of the
United with Dream members, Matias Ramos, was detaining the Minnesota Airport.
It became a crisis and eventually he was released from
removal proceedings to different action. Moe wanted to recreate that
(17:58):
anxiety and blis size it to the world, which brings
us back to McCain's office.
Speaker 12 (18:07):
I remember calling Lizabeth, I think one day, saying like, hey,
let's get ourselves arrested and let's like recreate this moment
of fear with everyone where they think, like, oh my god,
these folks are going to get deported, what can we do?
And so being in control of the action, our plan
was we were going to tell everyone ignore us, call
for the passage of the Dream Act. And so yeah,
(18:29):
we essentially put together a plan of let's find people
that are regionally diverse from different parts of the country
that are leaders, and the five or six of us,
let's get arrested and essentially put ourselves into deportation. Proceeds
to recreate sort of that like Matias simulation.
Speaker 1 (18:45):
The protesters were intentional with their messaging. They knew what
kind of message the cap and gowns would send. It
was calculated symbolism that wisdom.
Speaker 11 (19:01):
Now you're resting students, you know, Now you're arresting people
that just want to study, that want to go to college.
I mean, if you present this sort of image to
you who present this story, as long as there's media attention,
as long as people are connected and organizing, because that's
(19:21):
the point that we wanted to make. If you've become involved,
if you organize, you're going to be more safe as
opposed to if you item it yourself.
Speaker 1 (19:30):
There's power in numbers and hiding and playing sight.
Speaker 11 (19:35):
Because if I come knocking on your door, no one
is going to know, but we'll use that symbolism because
that is something that I think grabs people's attentions to
just saying, okay, this is where we start to start
with the young people. Look with this government is doing.
Look what this country is doing, tearing families apart. Now,
obviously we're adults, we're not we're not children anymore. But
(19:58):
using that they happen down was just symbols.
Speaker 2 (20:02):
But they were still arrested.
Speaker 11 (20:04):
Some of us were put in remotle proceedings. But the
reason we did that was because we knew that. And
then documenting young people, the community that we have formed
was ready to fight and could actually stop our own vacation.
Speaker 3 (20:18):
Now it was up to Congress. The Dream Act made
it through the House, but it was blocked by a
Republican dominated Senate, and once again the bill died flailing
on the Senate floor. The final vote was fifty five
to forty one and needed five more votes to clear
(20:39):
the sixty vote threshold. Five bruh no moments that created
even more pressure for immigration reform. Shit was about to
get very real for Elizabeth and mow. They knew they
had to keep the pressure up.
Speaker 12 (21:00):
When the Dream Act vote failed. We were all very
sort of like content. It was like we knew this
was going to happen. I know there was people in
our group that were obviously disheartened and sad, but I
think our take on it was like this is never
going to pass, and we need to focus on something
that's essentially what became the base of NIA for empowerment,
(21:21):
education and escalation, and not so much being focused on
legislation per se, but rather creating sort of the community
that can surpass anything, including getting legislation.
Speaker 3 (21:33):
The McCain sit in was like a soft launch for
their own group.
Speaker 11 (21:37):
A month later, we formed the movie Aliance. We had
already then a student or actually several sit ins. We're
undocumented young people essentially forced the government to arrest us.
In my course, I mean like weak challenge. So as
a result of that, we continued to do more and more.
(21:58):
I think we will call it radical. I don't necessarily
life dot work. We were just kind of dramatizing what
was already happening in our community. Young people were being
detained and deported, parents were being detained and reported in families,
the entire family was being destroyed. So we wanted to
use the privilege that we had as a documently young people.
(22:18):
This is before back off first and know that we
were a more sort of protected class. If, if you will,
if we were actually willing to organize and share our.
Speaker 3 (22:29):
Stories, it was time for Obama to act out of
the shadows will be back after the break. After losing
(22:59):
Congressional support following Obamacare, Obama conceded on the issue of deportation.
The administration couldn't get the Dream Act through in twenty ten,
and Congress members started to press for some relief of Dreamers.
In twenty eleven, John Morden, the Director of ICE, issued
(23:20):
a memo announcing a highlight program expanding prosecutorial discretion. Remember
that from the first episode. That's the secret policy that
John Lennon's lawyer, Leon Wilds found. While prosecutorial discretion is
legalese for deferred action anyway, scholars referred to it as
(23:40):
the Morton Memo, but it wasn't just one memorandum, but
a series of them. By twenty twelve, the reviews from
the pilot program in Denver and Baltimore revealed that most
undocumented cases were low priority and focus could be shifted
to more serious offenders or criminals.
Speaker 1 (24:00):
Obama's team discussed with immigrant organizations and advocacy groups on
how to best implement different action on a larger scale.
Critics called it backdoor amnesty. Obama couldn't get the dreamac
through Congress because Republicans controlled Congress, but with so many
immigrants in limbo, the pressure cooker was swhistling aggressively.
Speaker 5 (24:23):
What this country witnessed with the movement of the Dreamers
really is extraordinary. It is not, in any way, shape
or form given the credit that it deserves in terms
of being an essential part of the greater civil rights
movement of the United States of America.
Speaker 7 (24:42):
You know, folks are getting arrested. Folks who are pushing
people that they're in their offices, were getting arrested in
campaign offices, were doing everything they could to pressure Obama
behind the scenes and in front of the cameras and
the part of public opinion to push them to be
like you've been reporting all these people, you know, try
to say, save your reputation, try to do something right.
Speaker 4 (25:02):
With that power you have.
Speaker 13 (25:03):
I am very disappointed Congress wasn't able to pass the
Dream Act so we can stop punishing kids for the
actions of their parents and allow them to serve in
the military or earn an education and contribute their talents
to the country where they grew up.
Speaker 1 (25:17):
On the next episode of Out of the Shadows, Obama
announces DACA, But who really made it happen? We explore
that and more next time Out of the Shadows. Dreamers
is a Semelo production in partnership with Iheartsmichael Duda podcast Network.
(25:39):
It's created, posted, and executive produced by me, Patti Rodriguez,
and Eric Galindo. This show is written by Sessa Hernandez
an executive produced by Jiselle Vancis. Our supervising producer is
Arlene Santana. It's produced and edited by Brianna Flores. Our
associate producer is Claudia Marti GRENA sound is so mixing
(26:01):
and mastering by Jessica Cranechitch and a special thanks to
all our Dreamers. Remember to subscribe to the podcast and
share it. For more Michael Duda podcasts, listen to the
iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you listen to your
favorite shows.
It's May seventeen, twenty ten, a sweltering, dry Monday in Arizona.
By noon, the temperature climbed to ninety degrees, pretty typical
weather for the Sonoran Desert. But this is not your
typical day, because something incredible is about to go down.
In Senator John mckein's office in Tucson, five brown college
(00:34):
kids dressed in blue caps and gowns enter his office
and stage an old school sit in. It's a bold move.
They are essentially trespassing and at risk of getting arrested
or even worse. The pressure is so much that one
of the protesters bows out, leaving just four Braula Caraca,
(00:58):
Lisbeth Matteo, Mohammed mo Abdullahi, and Jahira Ca. They sit
smiling with legs crossed, urging Senator McCain to support the
Dream Act, a bill that would, among other things, create
a pathway to legalization for undocumented immigrants. You see, McCain
(01:21):
had previously supported the bill, but at this point it's
considering a run for president, and pulled his support to
try and please the Republican's conservative base. The protesters refuse
to leave until McCain agrees to flip flop back to
supporting the bill, even when security comes, even when the
(01:42):
police come, they hold.
Speaker 2 (01:44):
Their position.
Speaker 1 (01:47):
Until finally the four college kids are arrested. It's a
powerful move and a brave one because three of the
four protesters risking their safety for the rights of immigrants
are themselves undocumented. Lizbeth, mo Yahida, all of whom are undocumented,
(02:12):
knew that they could be arrested. They knew they might
get deported. They planned for it. They knew how it
would look to deport peaceful students demanding rights. And it's
not that they weren't scared, but it was their way
of telling the world to care about their struggle. They
(02:33):
wanted people to pay attention to the Dream Act and
how it could change their lives. It was a tool
to create pressure on elected officials to please God, do something,
do something about this country's broken immigration system.
Speaker 2 (02:53):
I'm Patti Rodriguez and I'm Mary Glendo.
Speaker 1 (02:57):
This is Out of the Shadows, a podcast America's Tangled
History of immigration. Last season, we tackled Ronald Reagan's nineteen
eighty six Amnesty Act. This season, we're tracing the origins
of DACA, or Deferred Action for childhood arrivals. A contentious
executive order to protect undocumented young people from being.
Speaker 3 (03:18):
Deported issued by former President Obama in twenty twelve. DACA
was meant to be a temporary stop gap on a
broken immigration system. It was like putting a bucket under
a leaky roof, But with multiple Supreme Court challenges and
looming presidential elections, the roof feels like it can collapse
(03:38):
at any moment, impacting the US economy, American culture as
we know it. Meanwhile, the future of millions of lives
hang in the balance. Welcome to out of the shadows, Dreamers.
Speaker 4 (04:01):
Eric.
Speaker 2 (04:02):
Do you remember March in two thousand and six.
Speaker 3 (04:04):
Yeah, I was covering it from my community college newspaper,
the Talent Marks. Yeah.
Speaker 1 (04:10):
And I was there too, covering it for the radio
morning show. And for those who don't remember, the protests
began in response to a proposed legislation that would raise
penalties for legal immigration and classify undocumented immigrants and anyone
who helped them enter into the US as felons.
Speaker 3 (04:30):
I didn't even know that back then, to be honest,
all I knew was it was a day without a
Mexican and we were all going to go to downtown La.
Speaker 2 (04:38):
Oh, and we all came together.
Speaker 3 (04:39):
That's right, over one.
Speaker 1 (04:41):
Million people just in downtown Los Angeles.
Speaker 3 (04:43):
It was just in LA So it was all over
the country. They were doing it.
Speaker 1 (04:47):
Yeah, and this is written in history as the largest
protest ever because these are the parents of the Dreamers
who were fighting for their humanity. I believe these marchas
in two thousand and six is what inspired the Dreamers
to see the power in numbers, to see that they
(05:11):
were not alone in this fight, and maybe in a
way gave them the courage to come out of the
shadows themselves.
Speaker 3 (05:19):
Yeah, it was definitely a moment for sure. The history
of immigrants organizing during that time was like a Gordian knot,
or like pulling out wired headphones from your pocket. It's tangled.
Speaker 4 (05:36):
Well.
Speaker 3 (05:36):
The Dreamer movement is so closely tied to the Dream
Act and education. The Six Marches were like an incubator
for the movement. Sure, people marched to end a different bill,
but it was a coalition of immigrants of all kinds,
a united front of millions.
Speaker 5 (05:53):
The Dreamers had already they had already been coalescing as
a community.
Speaker 3 (05:58):
That's the one and only Mightysa, a Mexican American Pulitzer
Prize winning journalist and host of the hit PRX radio
show Latino USA.
Speaker 5 (06:08):
Why because what would happen is that you know, they
would end up in college if they were able to.
And then their identification, whether they were from Africa or
Korea or Venezuela or Argentina. One of their primary identifiers
(06:31):
was to be an undocumented student. And they formed those
allegiances right across ethnicities, race, cultural backgrounds, national identities. And
this to me is kind of extraordinary about the Dreamer movement.
It is, yes, in many ways a Latino Latina LATINX
movement in Tendido, but it is also encompassing of all immigrants,
(06:57):
right and refugees, and there's no race upon which that
is only dedicated to them, right, So I think that
was really really powerful.
Speaker 3 (07:08):
Laganan Mancha was like someone sent out a bat signal
to the Latin diaspora across the US.
Speaker 5 (07:15):
And I think that again, the marches in like Chicago, Dallas, LA.
The marches that stood out half a million people in Chicago,
half a million people in Dallas, Dyosmil. I think it
was close to a million in LA.
Speaker 2 (07:34):
In New York. It was smaller, but what it was
in New York was Dodo.
Speaker 3 (07:39):
Mundo laganon Mancha helped kill a bill that would have
made undocumented people in the US felons. And it showed
the power of community and of organizing a little fire
that many people hope would change immigration policies in a
big way, maybe even lead to the dreamac passing. But
(07:59):
as we say, history isn't that simple.
Speaker 5 (08:14):
What I'm really haunted and obsessed by is the capacity
of this country, and it's in humanity towards people who
were simply were not born in this country. And then
you have a reality in terms of the immigrant experience,
which is that you are not only less than human,
but you are also labeled illegal.
Speaker 1 (08:36):
In two thousand and seven, on the anniversary of the
Six Marches, hundreds of thousands of immigrants still shut up
to protest on May Day in California. The protest ended
with police attacking peaceful protesters, many of whom were families
with children. So just imagine for a minute, you're pleading
(08:57):
for humanity, peacefully holding your innocent child's hand, and the
police respond with swinging batons and a rapid fire of
rubber bullets. The protesters were pleading for a solution on
(09:18):
the issue of immigration and demanding the end of workplace
raids and deportations. By two thousand and eight, the protesting
flames started to dim a bit, but thousand still marched
in May, especially in Milwaukee. Messages plastered on signs demanded
the end of raids. The US supported close to three
hundred thousand people in seven, close to a fifty percent increase.
(09:43):
The protestant marches also flirted up anti immigrant groups such
as Numbers USA, whose membership numbers went from one hundred
thousand to six hundred thousand. But the marches had an impact,
as Antonio vi Ja Ragosa, Eli's may at the time
asked DHS to end the workplace rates, citing in a
(10:05):
study that fifty percent of those deported we're working in
local industries and could create further harm on the economy.
By two thousand and nine, the protesters took it to
a more sophisticated level by coordinating civil disobedience through Internet
communities and text messages. Again, I want to emphasize that
(10:25):
the undocumented students let the fight for immigration reform for themselves,
and they were bold Mahmie.
Speaker 3 (10:32):
Eric Guadata was one of those organizers.
Speaker 4 (10:36):
We called ourselves Dreamers because you were trying to pass
lesislation that was called the Dream Act.
Speaker 6 (10:41):
So it made it easier and it made it ring
in people's minds, right, especially when you're talking of politicians
who are always getting yelled at for so many different
things that oh shit, I remember those who Those are
the dreamers.
Speaker 7 (10:53):
Who came to my office and got arrested. Those are
the dreamers who came here when they were like babies
and they assimilated to society, but they're still undocumented. So
it was it was a double edged sword because for
so many years in the beginning of the movement, we
were pushing the dream bag right, like this is the legislation,
this is the bill that is going to fix everything,
(11:14):
all the way up until twenty ten. So up after
twenty ten, like that just became part of the lexicon.
Speaker 3 (11:21):
He went, is the dreamer movement grow in real time
and the organizing became more and more frequent.
Speaker 4 (11:28):
So in terms of the way the movement grew, in
terms of like doing non violent actions and figure out
different ways to get people's attention or just to put
people's day up.
Speaker 7 (11:38):
We escalated over the years in terms of cool, We're
gonna have a teaching cool, We're gonna have a community
media cool, We're gonna have an open house.
Speaker 4 (11:45):
Each time the event gets bigger and bigger and bigger
and more and more.
Speaker 8 (11:49):
Personal, to the point that when documented students started about
doing civil disobedience and getting arrested, and that's when like
should just stop off in terms of like.
Speaker 4 (11:57):
Now we are thinking about what's going to happen.
Speaker 3 (12:01):
At one point the organizers started worrying that they were
being watched by the cheese muscles at the FBI.
Speaker 4 (12:09):
Were you going to be monitored? And in many ways
I think we were.
Speaker 9 (12:12):
Especially just because of the nature of things when, especially
when you get arrested in front of the federal headquarters
in the West Side, when you start fucking with like
the FBI and at the time too President Obama and
the presidential office, you're gonna have eyes on you no
matter what.
Speaker 4 (12:28):
So whether anything happened from that, I don't know.
Speaker 8 (12:31):
But there were instances right where we could just like
point to each other and be.
Speaker 10 (12:36):
Like, your phone's not working right, Yeah, no, my phone
sounds weird, Like we're not getting any reception, you know,
weird phone calls things like that, like trying to trying
to figure out if we've seen that person before a meeting.
Speaker 4 (12:48):
Before and who are they?
Speaker 8 (12:49):
And as many you know, news organizations have proved over
these last couple of years, especially with the Black Lives
Matter movement, that there is a modern day hotel pro happening,
and you know, activist spaces are being metiltrated and they
are being you know, turned into against folks to criminalize them.
So it wasn't the same as it is today, but
(13:10):
for sure it was a concern to be monitored.
Speaker 1 (13:18):
But even still, what all these fears and pressures, Maria,
I know, hoos success. They put themselves in harm's way
to fight. When I saw the activists do that ridiculously
bold move of going over and taking over brock Obama's
campaign offices, whoa I mean, talk about putting your body
(13:44):
on the line, talk about giving it your all selflessness,
of sacrifice for the greater good, and of a brilliant
political move.
Speaker 5 (13:56):
Frankly was extraordinary.
Speaker 1 (14:00):
A year later, in twenty ten, the Dream Act was
up for a vote again. That same year, dreamers showed
up at the offices of politicians to demand its passage.
We'll hear from them after the break.
Speaker 3 (14:32):
Twenty ten was a huge year for the Dreamer movement.
The Dream Act was up for a vote again. It's
still guaranteed a path to legalization for immigrant children who
got here before the age of sixteen. This was going
to be the year it passed, and the Dreamers did
everything in their power to ensure that. Lizabeth Matteo, one
(14:54):
of the undocumented protesters from the top of the show,
had been organizing for years advocate for the bill, and
her involvement grew when she found her community.
Speaker 11 (15:07):
I was at that first meeting when United was being
was formed as an organization. That's where I met Muhammad
and other undocumented against people.
Speaker 3 (15:17):
She's referring to. Mohammed mo Abdullahi, another one of the
protesters who donned a cap and gown with Lizabeth.
Speaker 12 (15:25):
I got involved in immigration stuff just sort of from
like a selfish place, which is I needed something that
would help myself as someone who was undocumented lived here
since I was three years old.
Speaker 3 (15:37):
Moe's an undocumented immigrant from Iran. He and his family
have been living in an arbor since he was three.
His fear of deportation was even more pronounced because he
feared he'd face a worse fate in Iran as a
gay man.
Speaker 12 (15:52):
I think the first time, my mom just told me
that there's something called the Dream Act, but not to
google it because the police would find us. And so
the first thing I did is I googled it and
found out that there was a community of folks just
like myself that were online trying to advocate for the
Dream Act.
Speaker 3 (16:09):
Yet despite that anxiety, he still felt compelled to get involved.
It was scarier to be left in limbo. Mo became
an activist after he applied to enroll at Eastern Michigan
University and wasn't accepted because of his status, even though
he had saved up enough money that led him to
(16:29):
become a Dreamer, although they weren't calling it that yet.
Speaker 12 (16:34):
So when I found out about dream BacT, it was
two thousand and seven, maybe late two thousand and six, Yeah, yeah,
it was close to the end of two thousand and
six is when I first found out about it and
sort of got involved, just online, sort of a community
talking to other undocumented folks, not too much activism and
the Dreamer name. We were initially calling it Dreamy with
(16:57):
an Ie and then point it turned into Dreamer. One
of the first projects that we undertook was we sort
of recognized the importance of telling our stories and so
we just reached out to other Dreamers. Hey, this can
be anonymous, you can use whatever nickname you want. It's
important for people to know that we exist and that
(17:18):
were their friends, coworkers, neighbors, and so that was sort
of like the first project that we took up in
the Shadows.
Speaker 1 (17:34):
After Mo and Lizbeth met, they strategized on how to
get people to care about the bill. But there was
one moment that inspired that McCain action. One of the
United with Dream members, Matias Ramos, was detaining the Minnesota Airport.
It became a crisis and eventually he was released from
removal proceedings to different action. Moe wanted to recreate that
(17:58):
anxiety and blis size it to the world, which brings
us back to McCain's office.
Speaker 12 (18:07):
I remember calling Lizabeth, I think one day, saying like, hey,
let's get ourselves arrested and let's like recreate this moment
of fear with everyone where they think, like, oh my god,
these folks are going to get deported, what can we do?
And so being in control of the action, our plan
was we were going to tell everyone ignore us, call
for the passage of the Dream Act. And so yeah,
(18:29):
we essentially put together a plan of let's find people
that are regionally diverse from different parts of the country
that are leaders, and the five or six of us,
let's get arrested and essentially put ourselves into deportation. Proceeds
to recreate sort of that like Matias simulation.
Speaker 1 (18:45):
The protesters were intentional with their messaging. They knew what
kind of message the cap and gowns would send. It
was calculated symbolism that wisdom.
Speaker 11 (19:01):
Now you're resting students, you know, Now you're arresting people
that just want to study, that want to go to college.
I mean, if you present this sort of image to
you who present this story, as long as there's media attention,
as long as people are connected and organizing, because that's
(19:21):
the point that we wanted to make. If you've become involved,
if you organize, you're going to be more safe as
opposed to if you item it yourself.
Speaker 1 (19:30):
There's power in numbers and hiding and playing sight.
Speaker 11 (19:35):
Because if I come knocking on your door, no one
is going to know, but we'll use that symbolism because
that is something that I think grabs people's attentions to
just saying, okay, this is where we start to start
with the young people. Look with this government is doing.
Look what this country is doing, tearing families apart. Now,
obviously we're adults, we're not we're not children anymore. But
(19:58):
using that they happen down was just symbols.
Speaker 2 (20:02):
But they were still arrested.
Speaker 11 (20:04):
Some of us were put in remotle proceedings. But the
reason we did that was because we knew that. And
then documenting young people, the community that we have formed
was ready to fight and could actually stop our own vacation.
Speaker 3 (20:18):
Now it was up to Congress. The Dream Act made
it through the House, but it was blocked by a
Republican dominated Senate, and once again the bill died flailing
on the Senate floor. The final vote was fifty five
to forty one and needed five more votes to clear
(20:39):
the sixty vote threshold. Five bruh no moments that created
even more pressure for immigration reform. Shit was about to
get very real for Elizabeth and mow. They knew they
had to keep the pressure up.
Speaker 12 (21:00):
When the Dream Act vote failed. We were all very
sort of like content. It was like we knew this
was going to happen. I know there was people in
our group that were obviously disheartened and sad, but I
think our take on it was like this is never
going to pass, and we need to focus on something
that's essentially what became the base of NIA for empowerment,
(21:21):
education and escalation, and not so much being focused on
legislation per se, but rather creating sort of the community
that can surpass anything, including getting legislation.
Speaker 3 (21:33):
The McCain sit in was like a soft launch for
their own group.
Speaker 11 (21:37):
A month later, we formed the movie Aliance. We had
already then a student or actually several sit ins. We're
undocumented young people essentially forced the government to arrest us.
In my course, I mean like weak challenge. So as
a result of that, we continued to do more and more.
(21:58):
I think we will call it radical. I don't necessarily
life dot work. We were just kind of dramatizing what
was already happening in our community. Young people were being
detained and deported, parents were being detained and reported in families,
the entire family was being destroyed. So we wanted to
use the privilege that we had as a documently young people.
(22:18):
This is before back off first and know that we
were a more sort of protected class. If, if you will,
if we were actually willing to organize and share our.
Speaker 3 (22:29):
Stories, it was time for Obama to act out of
the shadows will be back after the break. After losing
(22:59):
Congressional support following Obamacare, Obama conceded on the issue of deportation.
The administration couldn't get the Dream Act through in twenty ten,
and Congress members started to press for some relief of Dreamers.
In twenty eleven, John Morden, the Director of ICE, issued
(23:20):
a memo announcing a highlight program expanding prosecutorial discretion. Remember
that from the first episode. That's the secret policy that
John Lennon's lawyer, Leon Wilds found. While prosecutorial discretion is
legalese for deferred action anyway, scholars referred to it as
(23:40):
the Morton Memo, but it wasn't just one memorandum, but
a series of them. By twenty twelve, the reviews from
the pilot program in Denver and Baltimore revealed that most
undocumented cases were low priority and focus could be shifted
to more serious offenders or criminals.
Speaker 1 (24:00):
Obama's team discussed with immigrant organizations and advocacy groups on
how to best implement different action on a larger scale.
Critics called it backdoor amnesty. Obama couldn't get the dreamac
through Congress because Republicans controlled Congress, but with so many
immigrants in limbo, the pressure cooker was swhistling aggressively.
Speaker 5 (24:23):
What this country witnessed with the movement of the Dreamers
really is extraordinary. It is not, in any way, shape
or form given the credit that it deserves in terms
of being an essential part of the greater civil rights
movement of the United States of America.
Speaker 7 (24:42):
You know, folks are getting arrested. Folks who are pushing
people that they're in their offices, were getting arrested in
campaign offices, were doing everything they could to pressure Obama
behind the scenes and in front of the cameras and
the part of public opinion to push them to be
like you've been reporting all these people, you know, try
to say, save your reputation, try to do something right.
Speaker 4 (25:02):
With that power you have.
Speaker 13 (25:03):
I am very disappointed Congress wasn't able to pass the
Dream Act so we can stop punishing kids for the
actions of their parents and allow them to serve in
the military or earn an education and contribute their talents
to the country where they grew up.
Speaker 1 (25:17):
On the next episode of Out of the Shadows, Obama
announces DACA, But who really made it happen? We explore
that and more next time Out of the Shadows. Dreamers
is a Semelo production in partnership with Iheartsmichael Duda podcast Network.
(25:39):
It's created, posted, and executive produced by me, Patti Rodriguez,
and Eric Galindo. This show is written by Sessa Hernandez
an executive produced by Jiselle Vancis. Our supervising producer is
Arlene Santana. It's produced and edited by Brianna Flores. Our
associate producer is Claudia Marti GRENA sound is so mixing
(26:01):
and mastering by Jessica Cranechitch and a special thanks to
all our Dreamers. Remember to subscribe to the podcast and
share it. For more Michael Duda podcasts, listen to the
iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you listen to your
favorite shows.
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