FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Contact Carisa Cunningham (617) 426-1350
Special Fund Helps LGBT Dreamers Get Work Permits and Relief from Deportation
LGBT Dreamers Helped So Far Share Their Stories
(San Francisco, CA, February 19th, 2013) - Nearly 200 lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) undocumented young people have either received or are in the process of receiving two-year work permits and reprieves from the threat of deportation, thanks to a fund made possible by over three-dozen LGBT organizations. Late last summer, President Obama created the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) program to enable people who came to the United States as children-commonly known as “Dreamers”-to apply for work permits and relief from deportation.
In response, the National Center for Lesbian Rights (NCLR), the LA Gay & Lesbian Center, and the Evelyn & Walter Haas, Jr. Fund launched the “LGBT Dreamers Fund” at the Liberty Hill Foundation to help LGBT Dreamers pay the $465 in fees required to apply for relief under the DACA program (a list of organizations contributing to the fund appears at the end of this release). The $465 in fees poses a steep hurdle for most Dreamers because neither they nor their parents are able to obtain lawful employment due to their undocumented status.
“These young people are part of the LGBT community and we knew we had to find a way to give them a hand,” said NCLR Executive Director Kate Kendell, one of the fund’s co-founders. “We are thrilled that so many LGBT organizations across the nation stepped forward.”
“GLAD is committed to creating a world in which all LGBT youth have the opportunity to live out their dreams,” said Lee Swislow, Executive Director of Gay & Lesbian Advocates & Defenders. “We were happy to be able to support the hard work and dedication of these young people by contributing to the Dreamers Fund.”
To date, more than $100,000 has been raised and 160 LGBT Dreamers have received financial assistance. At least another 40 will get help from the fund. LGBT Dreamers who would like assistance from the fund may apply at www.LibertyHill.org/LGBTDreamersFund.
One of the recipients of aid from the fund, Jose Mendoza, recently received his work permit. Jose’s dream is to become a nurse and he is now taking classes that will allow him to apply to a nursing program. “Getting this kind of support and help means so much, and it’s great to see the gay community stepping in and saying that what I am doing is important,” he said.
Marco Quiroga, who wants to be a surgeon, said he was “thrilled” to have the support of the LGBT Dreamers Fund so that he could submit his DACA application. “Immigrant and LGBT issues have always been separate in my mind, and it is wonderful to see these two communities come together to work on a common cause,” he said. “Receiving these funds creates a sense of community with other gay immigrants who are in my situation.”
“In spite of having to deal with the stresses of being both undocumented and LGBT, these young people have persevered and emerged as leaders of the national reform movement,” said LA Gay & Lesbian Center CEO Lorri L. Jean, another fund co-founder. “All of us are so pleased to be able to show our support and gratitude to them.”
There is widespread agreement that the DACA program is only a temporary fix and that creating a direct pathway to citizenship for Dreamers is one of the key elements of comprehensive immigration reform. The framework for reform recently announced by President Obama as well as the one put forward by the bipartisan “Gang of 8” in the U.S. Senate specifically included Dreamers. On February 5, House Majority Leader Eric Cantor, who helped sink the federal DREAM Act in 2010, also endorsed citizenship for Dreamers.
Jose Mendoza’s and Marco Quiroga’s stories, and those of other recipients of the LGBT Dreamers Fund is available at www.LGBTDreamersStories.com.
LGBT Dreamers who would like assistance from the LGBT Dreamers fund may apply at www.LibertyHill.org/LGBTDreamersFund.
Current contributors to the LGBT Dreamers Fund:
Aaron Belkin, Executive Director of the Palm Center
Center on Halsted (Chicago)
The Center/GLBT Community Center of Colorado
Cream City Foundation
The Gay and Lesbian Community Center of Southern Nevada
Centerlink
Equality Federation
Equality Maine
Family Equality Council
Freedom to Marry
Gay City Health Project (Seattle)
Gay Community Center of Richmond
Gay Men’s Health Crisis (GMHC)
Gay & Lesbian Advocates & Defenders (GLAD)
Greater Palm Springs Pride
GSA Network
Horizons Foundation
Human Rights Campaign (HRC)
Immigration Equality
Paul Kawata, Executive Director of the National Minority AIDS Council
L.A. Gay & Lesbian Center
Lambda Legal
LGBT Center of Central PA
LGBT Center of Raleigh
LGBT Project of the ACLU
Massachusetts Transgender Political Coalition
MassEquality
Mautner Project Board and Staff
Metropolitan Charities
National Center for Lesbian Rights
National Coalition for LGBT Health
National Gay and Lesbian Task Force Action Fund
National Stonewall Democrats
The Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual & Transgender Community Center (New York City)
One Colorado
Out & Equal Workplace Advocates
The OUTreach Center (Madison, WI)
Pride Foundation
Pridelines Youth Services (Miami Shores, FL)
Q Center (Portland, OR)
Rainbow Community Center (Contra Costa, CA)
Ruth Ellis Center, Inc. (Detroit)
San Diego LGBT Community Center
Services and Advocacy for GLBT Elders (SAGE)
Servicemembers Legal Defense Network (SLDN)
San Francisco LGBT Community Center
Transgender Law Center
The Trevor Project
True Colors
Several Anonymous Donors
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Gay & Lesbian Advocates & Defenders is New England's leading legal organization dedicated to ending discrimination based on sexual orientation, HIV status, and gender identity and expression.