The Baker

Today I found Chino. Or Chino found me.
He was neatly dressed with a crisp blue shirt, vest, slacks and shiny black shoes. Polite, assertive and inquisitive. He had all the necessary documentation to demonstrate his presence in the USA since his arrival in a neatly organized binder.  He had done a better job collecting info than most applicants, yet his school records were missing.
He works as a baker all night. Since he came to the USA at age 15 he has been his family's breadwinner. His English is limited and needs to access GED in Spanish classes urgently. Here is one of the few available GED classes in Spanish  in the Phoenix Metro area.. He represents a minority of  DREAM Act youth and for now Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals applicants: most potential candidates have gone through the school system and are fluent in English, but not Chino and some few more.
His situation present several challenges.  USCIS produced DACA information in Spanish and this is the link but most of the assumptions is that DACA applicants access the information in English and our volunteer, advocate efforts are focused on English speakers.  We only explain in Spanish for the parents.
In the last 6 months I only heard of 3 cases of immigrant youth that hadn't have instruction in Spanish among the hundreds of young immigrants I come across.  This is not scientific assessment but just  anecdotal.
On cases like Chino's we advocates need to step up to the challenge and provide extra guidance, caring support.
I connected with him through e-mail.  Thankfully he is not illiterate and has basic computer skills. He always ends his e-mails sending me blessings.

I will make sure that, in spite of his limitations, he gets on the right track: GED first, then English lessons, simultaneously DACA and possibly more. I hope he will be willing to follow my advise.

Integrity and Intensity

GED seekers are confronting serious obstacles in Arizona.  The State Legislature has been cutting Adult Education budgets to the point of starvation and Prop.300 denied public funding for undocumented youth since 2007.  The remedial high school certification landscape is a difficult one for citizen and undocumented immigrants alike.

Many persons who are reaching out to me seeking information for GED instruction are young mothers in their early 20s who dropped out of high school due to pregnancy and now find difficult to find GED instruction to re-enter education.  USCIS willingness to accept enrollment to GED programs for Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) applicants without a High School diploma is suddenly increasing the demand and urgency for GED classes by these individuals.

Here is a list of challenges GED seekers are finding in Arizona and specially Maricopa County:

Decreased funding. GED instruction has been severely de-funded. In 2010, Governor Brewer signed a budget that eliminated the $4.5 million appropriation for Adult Education and GED Testing.  When Arizona eliminated this GED funding, it also lost $11 million in matching funds from the Federal government.

On line classes. Some GED outlets at Community Colleges only offer on-line classes to undocumented youth which may be a challenging setting for low proficiency students.

Students with different levels of proficiency. GED  instructors need to assess 
different levels of proficiency. It may take real commitment and monetary investment 
from some students to make up for lost time, acquire a GED certification and then
apply for DACA.

Bureaucratic barriers. Community colleges in Maricopa County (one of the largest in the nation) took time to implement new Arizona Department of Education’s ID policies and their own internal guidelines and denied GED instruction to some, especially during the first weeks after August the 15^th.  Some Community Colleges’ personnel in Maricopa County are not properly trained to offer consistent, non-intrusive enrollment procedures and question about immigration status, SS#.

Different programs, funding and models create confusion.  Non-profits are creating their own models to offer tuition based GED programs for people seeking to apply to DACA and comply with Prop. 300 at the same time.

Potential for fraud. Some organizations, charter schools are charging up to 4,500 for “High School Diplomas”; others offer “too good to be true” on-line classes. It may be difficult for immigrant youth to assess the adequate “intensity and integrity” of a GED, High School competition program, putting the burden of proof on the undocumented youth for DACA purposes.

Uneven production of enrollment documents to apply for DACA. GED outlets are still figuring out the production of documentation and receipts helpful for DACA applicants.

DREAM Act volunteer non-profit organizations, CADENA, The Arizona DREAM Act Coalition  and Tucson based Scholarships A-Z are taking the task to guide GED seekers in order to have a better educated workforce for the state and to have  young immigrants, so many times forgotten, applying for DACA.

Arizona’s Prop 300, its Effect on GED Seekers and Future DACA Applicants

About two years ago I was asked by a non-profit organization to craft an advocacy agenda on education issues since my work for the DREAM Act eligible youth is well known in Arizona, and immigrant youth is such an important part our education system and communities.  One of the issues I brought up to the surprise of my fellow board members was the concern for Arizona’s high dropout rate among Hispanics and the need to make stronger efforts promoting the integration of those individuals through GED certification programs. 

According to a 2010 study by Migration Policy Institute (MPI) around 100,000 undocumented youth live in Arizona, at different educational levels. Currently Arizona has an average High School completion rate of 72.5% being the Hispanic community the one with the highest percentage of High Schools drop outs. One of the factors that without doubt  influence the below national average completion rates for High School is that many of the students attending K-12 education are undocumented and get discouraged to continue their education by  the implementation of anti immigrant laws that put barriers to accessing post-secondary education.

In 2007 the Arizona voters passed Prop. 300, one of the first state anti-immigrant laws to target the education of undocumented students.  Prop 300 denied state funding for undocumented students and practically tripled the tuition to post secondary education for students that could not prove legal status in Arizona. Other of the lesser known educational elements this proposition affected was adult education. 

DREAM Advocates like myself always tried to encourage young immigrants to finish their High School and obtain a diploma since K-12 education has been protected by Supreme Court ruling Plyler v. Doe and our knowledge of the effects of Prop 300 on remedial tools as adult education, GED instruction certification and post secondary education in general.

President Obama’s announcement on June 15^th 2012 granting legal presence to undocumented young immigrants though Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) and the subsequent guidelines issued brought a new and sudden interest in GED education. Now the minimal educational requirement for DACA applicants is a high school diploma or a GED.  According to USCIS guidelines and interpretation from practicing immigration lawyers, young immigrants can apply to DACA when they can probe they are enrolled in a GED program.

Suddenly this tool for remedial certification became important for many.  Demand overwhelmed the current GED outlets, burdened by the limitations imposed by Prop 300. Institutions and non-profit organizations have been revising their models for offering GED to future DACA applicants and at three months of the DACA announcement, slowly started to increase the number of GED classes On Line and in regular classroom settings.  Institutions have been revising enrollment, funding and id requirements in order to be compliant with prop. 300. Due to Prop. 300 GED programs in Arizona are not being offered for free for people who cannot prove legal status.  State money is not being allocated for these classes.  

The Arizona Department of education has issued guidelines to ID requirements when the GED classes and tests are being paid for. Young immigrants seeking GED instruction and certification in order to apply for DACA have being confronted with unscrupulous organizations or businesses that offer instruction for high price and which accreditation is questionable. Established GED outlets from community colleges and school districts are starting to offer tuition options, some of them making extraordinary efforts to offer instruction for an affordable cost. 

Using social media tools DREAM Act advocates like myself, are communicating these options for GED seekers since we have little to no-resources.

In spite of the obstacles we are determined to integrate more young immigrants to the GED instruction so they can apply to the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) process and increase the educational level of this segment of the population.  This is an opportunity we all can benefit from.

Follow GED updates on Fabebook searching: GED in Maricopa County.

For some, GED key to avoiding deportation

I'm quoted on this article about the importance of the GED for attaining eligibility on deferred action,  For some, GED key to avoiding deportation

DREAMers Entrepreneurs in Arizona

Arizona DREAMers, after experiencing first harsh immigration laws and policies have found the way to work along with the system, succeed and move ahead.
We have been proactive offering to Arizona DREAM Act Coalition's ( ADAC) members Small Business training  and showcase the new Small Businesses to the group so more are inspired and get ready to start their own.
There is also an emphasis within the group in the creation of high tech businesses.
Thanks to Univision and Ma. Antonieta Collins for meeting with ADAC and share with the nation this story of hope and economic development by young people.

The Importance of Knowing Your Rights and How We Stopped Marco's Deportation

Marco and Gabriella are a young couple.  She is a bright and well spoken American citizen, he is an undocumented immigrant without an accent.  He came as baby to the USA. 
A Scottsdale police in an unmarked vehicle  one night stopped the car where Marco was a passenger. He and his citizen friend were carpooling to work.  
Marco was asked for his I.D. and gave too much information during the street interrogation. (Marco could have been more prepared if he only had read CADENA's Know Your Rights brochure that you can download and print here. I  supervise its content). The police officer let both of them go after getting Marco's job place information.   
Weeks later, the same police officer stops by Marco's work place.
He gets accused of criminal impersonation for using a false Social Security Number.
Gabriella does what most will and puts all her trust on a criminal lawyer who unfortunately was not very informed on immigration law and suggest his client to plea bargain for a reduced  sentence.
In Arizona it is very easy for immigrants to lose immigration opportunities due to a criminal record, since the passing of laws designing to criminalize undocumented workers charge them with the highest penalties possible, making them ineligible for deferred deportation. 
Prosecutors at the Maricopa County Attorneys office tell Gabriella, point blank,  they know what legal tools the federal administration has given the lawyers for releasing immigrants and that they know how to invalidate them.  These legal tools  come with the exercise of Prosecutorial Discretion (PD in legal lingo).  This PD focuses on the  deportation of the criminal element of our communities, not on workers with invented Social Security numbers or broken taillights.
While Marco spends months in detention for the "crime" he plead bargain for, awaiting immediate deportation after his release, Gabriella contacts me and seeks help, realizing the ignorance of their previous lawyer only made certain her husband's deportation.
First move I suggest:  Get a competent immigration lawyer.  I gave her three names of lawyers I trust for their knowledge and for keeping up-to date on latest immigration procedures.  Also they are really good in working on several fronts: the legal and  the advocacy side of the fight.
Second, I put her in contact with Genie Zavaleta who holds the key to our friends in Washington who can present cases in front of ICE for Prosecutorial Discretion to be implemented.
After long days of non-stop negotiations and back and forth, our Washington ICE connections gave up on Marco's case.  The penalties Marco sign up during the plea bargain process were too steep for PD.  I though Marco was a lost case.  
Delia Salvatierra, the expert immigration lawyer Gabriella choose among the names I provided, pulls another legal recourse and after an agonizing day full of bad news, Gabriella announces her husband is being released with  Deferred Action.
I was able to hear through the phone the joy and celebration at Marco and Gabriella's home as the family gathered.  This was a great Christmas present for CADENA.

Please go to CADENA's web-site  www.dreamactaz.org to find information related with Know Your Rights and educational opportunities for DREAMers.

Looking back: Best Idea of 2011

No doubt a great idea was partnering with Reyna Montoya creating YEA! --Youth for Education in Action- that took the most awesome team in the world Reyna Montoya, Maxima Guerrero, Brax Lopez and all the volunteers to participate in the Mesa special election of 2011.

Outcome. Phase 1: 300 + voter registrations, mostly young people. More than 180 voters were registered on the Permanent Early Voter List (PEVL). Phase 2: More than 3,000 doors were knocked in Mesa District 18 on low propensity precincts inviting people to vote.
We also were on the news several times!    Best outcome of all: Russell Pearce the "creator" of SB1070 and Prop 300 was voted out in spite of sham candidate Olivia Cortes. It seems to me that YEA! will survive time and place and can be a valuable platform of civil engagement.
Click here to see YEA!'s work.