DREAMers discussion concludes fall Common Reader Program events
Oscar Hernandez, a Houston-based organizer for Own the Dream, visited campus Nov. 9 to discuss the DREAMers movement. Own the Dream is a partner and affiliate of the national organization United We Dream, which is made up of over 100,000 immigrant youth advocating for immigrant rights, access to higher education and prevention of family separation from deportation.
Hernandez’s visit was the finale of a series of events scheduled for this semester’s Common Reader Program. The program, which launched at UHCL in 2014, is designed to allow the community of UHCL and beyond to discuss concepts, perspectives and overall social issues related to the theme of a selected text chosen by a panel of students, staff and faculty.
“The purpose of a common reader program, like UHCL’s, is to give the greater UHCL community an opportunity to have a shared experience (reading the book) about which they can converse,” said Wannalee Romero, director of the First-Year Seminar Program and the Common Reader Program.
The book chosen as this year’s common reader is “The Book of Unknown Americans” by Cristina Henriquez, who came to speak at the university Sept. 22. Other events in this year’s Common Reader Program have included a discussion titled “Words on Education, Cultura, and Empowerment” led by poet and educator Lupe Mendez, and an airing of “A Better Life,” a film about an illegal Mexican immigrant father who struggles to connect with his son.
“Events are coordinated throughout the year to intersect with different topics and themes,” Romero said. “This year’s reader is chiefly set in an apartment complex owned and inhabited by Latinas/os with different national, socioeconomic and immigration backgrounds.”
The DREAMers movement discussion was on immigrants’ rights and issues. Over one hundred people showed up, lining the walls of the Garden Room to participate in the discussion.
“Deportation, education and the school to prison pipeline are chief among concerns,” said Hernandez.
A 2015 study by the Center for Immigration Studies states Harris County has the third highest deportation rates, behind Maricopa County, AZ and Los Angeles County, CA.
“Even Adrian Garcia as Harris County Sheriff, a Latino and a Democrat, supported 287g, a policy put in place that allows police officers to question an individual’s immigration status and to contact Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) to start deportation proceedings,” Hernandez said.
Hernanes’s organization Own the Dream is a national campaign aimed at helping undocumented youth apply for Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA), a policy passed by President Barack Obama through executive action in 2012 allowing persons who immigrated here prior to their 16th birthday and before June 2007 to gain a two-year renewable work permit.
“We are particularly proud of how this year’s current reader focuses on Latina/o communities and the immigrant experience because of UHCL’s designation as a Hispanic-Serving Institution, our newly formed Latina/o and Latin American Studies Program and the relevance of immigration policy and citizenship in this year’s election,” said Romero in a press release to The Office of Communications at UHCL. “Though none of the characters in the book would necessarily qualify as ‘DREAMers,’ that Movement also asks that we reconsider what it means to be an American – and all of the duties and privileges that come with that identity.”
