FI2W Podcast: New Leaders in the Immigrant Rights Movement

The immigrant rights movement is changing.  Just a few years ago its main focus was convincing Congress to pass a comprehensive overhaul of the nation’s immigration system.   That never happened, and today the emphasis has shifted to the DREAM Act, a bill that would provide a path to legal status for millions of young, undocumented immigrants.  Many of them were brought to the US as young children, and only learned they were in the country illegally when they tried to apply for a drivers license or a college loan.   The movement’s new leadership is drawn from their ranks.  In this podcast, you’ll hear from three of these young activists:

Pulitzer Prize winning journalist Jose Antonio Vargas, who decided to reveal his illegal status in the New York Times Magazine.  He created an advocacy group called Define American.

Tanya Matos, a leader of the New York State Youth Leadership Council, a group that is pushing New York to pass a state version of the DREAM Act.   A year and a half ago she decided to publicly announce that she is an undocumented immigrant.

Juan Escalante, the communications director for Dreamactivist.org, who spoke to us by phone from Florida State University in Tallahassee, where he's in his 4th year of study.