SJCC M.E.Ch.A club hosted their 2nd annual Dream-In for SJCC students on Nov. 9 to advocate the AB 540/ Immigration Education issue. The night consisted of a couple speakers, music, food and hot drinks.

“They may not even know whether a student is undocumented or not, but they still have a duty to defend others and to make sure that everyone has an equal opportunity at education,” said Maria Guerra, SJCC M.E.Ch.A secretary.

What Guerra is referring to is the DREAM Act which started on August 1, 2001 by Senator Orin Hatch and Senator Richard Durbin qualifies undocumented students to be eligible for “a six year long conditional path to citizenship that requires completion of a college degree or two years of military service.”

It is important to know that this not only affects students of Latino or Mexican descent, but to all immigrant students. No one should be denied the right of higher education.

M.E.Ch.A president, Yazmin Madriz said she has been recruiting many SJCC students and supporters to be involved in the Dec. 3 DREAM Act rally in San Francisco. M.E.Ch.A will be chartering a bus to the event for SJCC students who wish to attend.

“Students should address this problem by considering themselves not as an individual scholar at SJCC, but as part of the collective student body,” said Guerra.

A campus wide email sent out last Tuesday, said that President Obama wishes to push the DREAM Act forward to a vote. Many supporters are hopeful that both Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid and House SPeaker Nancy Pelosi will push this bill before Dec. 3, to make this dream a reality for many immigrant students.

It has also been stated that other colleges participating in this significant event, include: Berkeley, USCS, Davis, SJSU, Fresno State, EVS, De Anza, Napa Valley and other campuses from Southern California.
For any information M.E.Ch.A meets every Tuesday at 2 p.m. in the Metas Center.