“On August 15, Mr. Speaker, they will take a step out of the shadows and into the light.”

U.S. Rep. Luis Gutiérrez (D-Ill.) will lead a press conference on Capitol Hill this afternoon with some of his colleagues to talk about efforts to provide support and assisstance to dreamers, so named after the DREAM Act, who are about to start applying to defer deportation.

Wednesday, Gutiérrez spoke on the House floor to “issue a call” to dreamers “to step out of the shadows.” His speech was one of encouragement to those young immigrants who may be hesitant to reveal their undocumented status and apply for deferred action, which they can do beginning Aug. 15.

“There is no greater cause for celebration in American than when we expand right to more of our people,” Gutierrez said. “We are never truer to our American values than when we look at a group of people and demand that they be treated with dignity and respect… when we live up to our original promise of liberty and equality.

“I want to remind DREAM-eligible youth that because of the intelligent action by President Obama, on August 15 they will be able to apply for work permits and protection from deportation,” Gutiérrez said. “On August 15, Mr. Speaker, they will take a step out of the shadows and into the light.”

“It’s vital to remember that every time we’ve expanded civil rights in America — every time — someone tried to stand in the way … There is always someone who says, ‘These rights, these liberties, and this equality — it’s for me, it’s not for you’,” he said, asking eligible immigrants to come forward and apply two weeks from now.


read more: http://www.voxxi.com/congress-dreamers-deferred-action/

related:

Dreamers 101: A checklist to prepare for deferred action
http://www.voxxi.com/dreamers-101-a-checklist-to-prepare-for-deferred-action/



Rep. Luis Gutierrez was arrested along with other immigrant rights advocates outside the White House on July 28, 2011, while protesting the Obama administration’s refusal to exert its administrative authority to grant sympathetic immigrants relief from its deportation policies.