‘Dream 9’ Supporters To Confront President Barack Obama During Phoenix Visit
By Huffington Post Latino Voices
Weeks of uncertainty for the group of young undocumented immigrants — known as the “Dream 9” — detained after crossing the U.S. – Mexico border in protest may culminate on Tuesday.
During President Barack Obama’s speech on housing in Phoenix, the National Immigrant Youth Alliance (NIYA) intends to bring their demands directly to Obama and ask for action to be taken in support of the detained students, according to a NIYA press release.
Last month three undocumented immigrants — Lizbeth Mateo, Marcos Saavedra and Lulu Martinez — returned to Mexico voluntarily to reunite with their family before crossing back via Nogales’ legal port of entry in an audacious act of protest against the Obama administration’s record-setting deportations. In Mexico six sympathizers, who had either left the United States voluntarily or been deported, joined the trio in their efforts.
The “Dream 9” were detained once they revealed their immigration statuses at the Nogales port entry. For almost three weeks they have been held at the Eloy Detention Center in Arizona, which is owned and operated by private prison contractor Corrections Corporation of America.
This article was first published in Huffington Post Latino Voices.
[Photo by United States Government Work]