WASHINGTON -Felipe Matos, Gaby Pacheco, Carlos Roa, and Juan Rodriguez are four undocumented immigrants who left Miami to walk to Washington to get Congress to pass the DREAM Act. The bill was introduced in 2001 to help immigrants, including undocumented students, get financial assistance, but still hasn’t passed. The Trail of Dream Walkers began Jan.1. The students said they hope this year will bring legislative change. Four months and fifteen hundred miles later they made it to Capitol Hill.
Many walkers came to the United States when they were young and do not recall their native land. Some families became divided because the undocumented parents got deported. Felipe Matos said, “How many students have to make the choice between where they were born and their parents? How many young people are going to lose their hopes and their dreams to a broken immigration system.”
Matos lived in poverty in Brazil, and his mother migrated to the states for a better life. Although he’s been accepted to top institutions, he needs financial aid to attend. Undocumented students in Florida have to pay out of state rates with no federal assistance.
Fellow walker Carlos Roa has lived in the U.S. since he was two-years-old. The Venezuela native wants to study architecture but cannot get a job without a four-year degree. He said, “We’re tired of an oppressive system, we’re tired of having to live in the shadows.”
The walkers have tried to schedule a meeting with President Barack Obama for the last month. But, they only received a staffer invitation. Matos declined the offer because he said their pain is too great to meet with someone who will not be able to make a decision.
He added, “With all due respect, we did not walk 1,500 miles to talk to a staffer.”