(LOS ANGELES)– The Dreams Across America Tour, a public awareness campaign to share personal stories focused on educating, dispelling myths, and giving real facts about the need for government to fix our broken immigration laws, kicked off from Los Angeles today.
“Immigrant or American Citizens, we all have the same hopes and dreams for ourselves and our families,” said Virginia Franklin, an African-American woman from Los Angeles. “This is why I’m taking part in the tour, to show America and Congress that we are all the same people with the same dreams. Our nation’s laws should reflect those dreams.”
Starting today in Los Angeles, the Dreams Across America Tour will bring together one hundred diverse individuals from throughout the country referred to as “Dreamers.” With three separate trains and major stops in cities such as Boston, Chicago, Miami, New York, Philadelphia and San Antonio, the tour will end in Washington on June 18, where the Dreamers will take their message and their stories – and thousands of others collected online – to the White House (June 19) and Capitol Hill (June 20).
“Too much of the immigration debate has conveyed a feeling of this being a battle of ‘us’ versus ‘them,” said Roxana Tynan an immigrant from England, who though unable to physically join the tour has shared her story online. “In a way, that disrespects the entire history of this nation. That’s why I shared my story online to show America that, with few exceptions, we are all immigrants or descendants of immigrants.”
As the Dreamers travel across the country, all Americans will have the opportunity to join them by “Getting on the Train” through the organization’s Web site – http://www.dreamsacrossamericaonline.org . This innovative site not only allows visitors to virtually join the train tour by signing a petition, but also enables them to share their own immigrant stories through text or video submission. In addition to videos from the 100 Dreamers, the site also has videos from such notable individuals as Arianna Huffington and Fabian Nunez, Speaker of the California Assembly. More videos will be added every day, including two videos each day documenting the progress of the cross-country tour.
Virginia’s story can be viewed online by going to:
http://www.dreamsacrossamericaonline.org/story/video/2007/06/01/virginia...
Roxana’s story can be viewed online by going to: www.dreamsacrossamericaonline.org/story/video/2007/06/11/roxana-tynan