Documentary Urges Immigrant Rights

Act on a Dream, a student organization that advocates for the legal rights of undocumented student immigrants, held its inaugural event of the year on Tuesday night with a film screening of the Emmy-award winning documentary, “Made in L.A.”

The film chronicles the struggle of three illegal Latina immigrants who filed complaints against a group of garment sweatshops in Los Angeles in 2001. They alleged that the companies—which manufacture clothing for the distributor Forever 21—subjected them to labor violations ranging from underpaid 12-hour workdays to unsanitary work conditions.

Their three-year-long struggle culminated in a large legal battle against Forever 21 that made national headlines.

In the discussion that followed, leaders from the handful of student groups represented—Fuerza Latina, Latinas Unidas, the Latino Political Coalition and RAZA—emphasized that the film should be an inspiration for their mission on campus.

“This film struck home for me in terms of the quintessential Latina working towards her future. I kind of saw my mom there,” Adrián Aldaba ’12, president of Fuerza Latina, commented.

But Act on a Dream’s External Relations Chair, Stephanie Delgado ’10, was quick to stress that immigration issues affect every student on campus, regardless of where they come from. “The immigrant is everyone,” she said. “If we really want to make a difference, we have to be united, not just as Latinos but as a community.”

Since it was founded last year, Act on a Dream has attempted to rally the Harvard student community together in support of the DREAM Act or the Development, Relief and Education for Alien Minors Act. The legislation was first introduced in Congress in March 2009, and seeks to allow illegal immigrants who are high school graduates to apply for conditional permanent residency in order to pursue higher education or join the military.

The United States Census Bureau estimated that in 2000, 65,000 undocumented students graduated from US high schools, and would qualify for conditional permanent residency under the DREAM Act.

In May of this year, University President Drew G. Faust publicly threw her support behind the Act in a letter to federal lawmakers. Harvard currently provides financial aid to students regardless of their citizenship.

According to Melissa Tran ’10, President of Act on a Dream, Harvard’s “don’t ask, don’t tell” financial aid policy gives undocumented students the opportunity to attend the college. “Not a lot of people know that there are undocumented students at Harvard. Our idea is that they’re just as American as us.”