Florida In-State Tuition Push!

Many discussions on the future of our Florida immigrant movement were brought to the table this past weekend at the FLIC Congress. The campaigns that are currently going on and that will need to be carried through into the new year are many such as the We Are Florida! campaign against anti-immigrant bills in our state, the CCA Go Away! campaign against the enactment of a new immigrant detention center in Southwest Ranches, Florida, and the on-going battle against Wage Theft in the state of Florida. But, the campaign that really caught the eyes of the Florida Immigrant Youth Network and all of the youth present at the Congress was the inevitable push for a Florida DREAM Act or better known as Florida In-State Tuition bill!
This initiative for an In-State tuition bill to be one of the central campaigns for the Florida Immigrant Coalition put a grin on all of the attendees at the FLIC Congress. The vote for this campaign came about democratically, where all of the organizations present at the Congress gathered with their members and chose which campaign they wanted FLIC to be spearheading alongside the other three main campaigns mentioned above. So, with many votes in its favor, the In-State tuition initiative won and FLIC is ready to work towards a Florida DREAM Act legislation!

What is a statewide DREAM Act or an in-state tuition bill, you might be asking? Well, currently there about ten states nationwide that have sponsored bills promoting in-state tuition rates for aspiring undocumented students to be given a chance to attend college. Currently, if an undocumented teenager who just graduated high school, wants to attend a college or university, they must pay out-of-state tuition rates if they want to attend a college in the state that they have lived in their entire life. They are treated the same as an international student, many times having to pay three or four times as much as a resident of that respective state. This makes it extremely difficult for undocumented students to pursue an institute of higher learning due to the elevated costs of attendance and in many cases, shies very intelligent and responsible undocumented high school students from attending college.
So, recently, states such as California, Maryland, and Illinois, have led the initiative to pass statewide DREAM Acts in their respective states. In the states that have been able to pass an in-state tuition bill for undocumented students, it has been a long and arduous battle! But, they have achieved it. So, why not? Why not try to pass the Florida DREAM Act? Last legislative session, it was said that an anti-immigrant legislation bill would SURELY pass. However, we were united and we were able to destroy the 12 bills that would have made Florida another HB 1070 state like Arizona! So, it is time for a pro-immigrant bill to pass here in our Sunshine State and the Florida DREAM Act is going to spearhead this initiative! Si se puede!

2011 FLIC Congress Concludes: Revitalized for the Future

What a weekend. Whoa, I'm tired. After a long, extenuating bus-drive back from Gainesville, Florida, I am finally back in the comfort of my home. Three days, two nights with my FLIC family is exactly what I needed and I would not have had it any other way. I wanted to go on this trip because I felt as if I was in debt with my immigrant youth community. From the beginning of this Fall 2011 semester, I had been busy as heck. Basically, working as a full-time tennis coach, five days a week, three hours a day, going to class, and balancing schoolwork, left me with little time to focus on S.W.E.R. and the Florida Immigrant Youth Network. This left me with a bitter taste in my mouth since I originally wanted my last semester at St. Thomas University to be fully engulfed in raising awareness for the immigrant youth movement in Florida with many innovative ideas and plans in my head. But, with the changing circumstances, I felt forced to step down and responsibly give my place to someone who would spearhead the immigration stance better than I would be able to at STU. Jose Salcedo, a great friend of mine, was the person for the job, but I jumped at the opportunity at being able to attend the annual FLIC Congress once Jose asked me to join him.

So, these last couple of days were truly amazing and inspiring. Being in the presence of great leaders of the immigrant community of our Sunshine State and discussing past, present, and future plans and projects is exactly what I needed to feel grounded again. To hear Maria Rodriguez's resoundingly positive voice reverberate strength for the future of Florida in my ear or to carefully and attentively listen to a central Florida farm worker retell his vivid story of being caught in a deportation raid, was what captured my heart and soul at last year's FLIC Congress. This time around it was not any different.
I needed this dose of reality once again in my life. It was as if the bucket of ice water that's labeled, "immigrant," "undocumented," "alien," "different," that is splashed time and time again in my face did not make me stagger as I sometimes have staggered in the past. Instead, when I am around my FLIC, S.W.E.R., and immigrant family, I feel as if I am not standing alone in front of that water bucket, but courageously defying it. All of us, standing side by side, ready to take the brunt of prejudice, xenophobia, and injustice with our heads held high.

2011 FLIC Congress Begins: Trip Down Memory Lane

It has been exactly one year since I fully emerged myself in the immigrant rights' struggle of this country. Exactly one year since I decided to become part of something bigger and better. Exactly one year since I decided to make a change in my life and actually become involved in the issues that affect my community and I. Thus, the event that catapulted this push for a new facet in my life was the 2010 FLIC Congress. It was one of the most empowering events that I have ever attended and I am forever grateful for being a part of it! Last year, I learned how loving and uplifting the Florida Immigrant Coalition and all of its constituents really are and I was ready to feel that revitalization again this year.

So, as I wait for this year's FLIC Congress to commence in just twenty-four more hours, I am ready to contribute again. I am ready to rejoice in the triumph of the We Are Florida! campaign against those nasty, anti-immigrant bills that were proposed earlier this year, but also anxious and wary as to what might be proposed next year in the 2012 Florida legislature session. However, I know that whatever obstacle the Florida immigrant rights' community is faced with, we will scratch, claw, and fight against it because we are a united and powerful movement that is prepared for the worse of the worst.