Yes We Can!

There are hundreds of young talented students are facing deportation every day. Let me repeat that, there are hundreds of young talented students are facing deportation every day. And they need our help.

I still remember Walter Lara’s case. Walter Lara is a 23 year-old, graduated from high school with outstanding grades. However, he did not get any equal access to educational opportunities because of his status—he was an undocumented student. It was a miserable moment for Walter because he could not get a job, obtain a driver license, or get a financial aid. Worst of all, he was scheduled to be deported it on July, 6, 2009. Sudden deportation letter from ICE made Walter and his family broke into great sadness, but he did not give up and refused to be deported. He did not give up because they were hundreds of student activists across the states supported Walter. Every day, thousands of young activists called congressmen, sent letters, signed petition, and periodically used media as to defend his case. Nevertheless, his deportation day was coming up, but we still did not give up. Instead, we continued to work hard and we became even stronger. We were united as one. Every student from all over states used different tactics to help Walter, because we wanted Walter to stay in this country, America. With our strong efforts on Walter Lara’s case, Walter Lara was finally right to stay in this country. But not only that, he was able to receive legal status. Walter and his family were delighted by the astonishing result. From that point, I realized anything is possible in this country as long as if we work hard and work together as one.

Despite of our victory over Walter Lara’s case, we got some more work to do. There are hundreds of students who are just like Walter Lara that desperately need our help and our advocacy at this moment. Yes, they need our help, our voice, our leadership, and our advocacy.

Jorge-Alonso is a 21 years old, graduated from high school with outstanding grades and received numerous honorable awards from school and the community. He wants to attain higher education because he wants to contribute to society when he gets older. However, he is denied his rights and unable to get access to equal educational opportunities because of his status. Not only that, he is scheduled to be deported September 23rd, 2009. He is scared. He is afraid. He is afraid of separating with his beloved friends and family in this country, he is afraid of tossing away his education and his talent, and he is afraid of losing his dream—the dream of reaching higher education and contributing to the society. He has 24hours left to be in this country. The time is limited for him. This is when we need to step up and work even harder to fight for his case. We need to tirelessly call congressman, send letters, and sign petition to defend Jorge-Alonso’s case. I know that we can win this case once again.

We cannot rest. We cannot rest because hundreds of students are facing deportation and they need our help. We cannot rest because Jorge-Alonso needs our help. Because we have power, we can win this case again. But we have to work hard and come together as one; just like what we did in Walter Lara’s case. Remember that you have a power and ability to change one’s life. So I encourage you to call congressman, send letters, and sign petition today. We can win this! No, we will in this!