33 ‘Dreamers’ detained at Texas border crossing, activist says
An update to our Q&A posted earlier about a group of undocumented youths attempting to cross the U.S. border into Texas: 30 of them and three of their parents were detained at the Laredo crossing, one of the organizers told the Los Angeles Times on Monday evening.
The group was imitating a protest previously attempted by activists who call themselves the “Dream 9.” The name comes from the Dream Act legislation, which would have provided a path to legalization for young people who were brought into the U.S. illegally as children.
The latest activists have been “essentially detained” in Laredo, Mohammad Abdollahi, an organizer with the National Immigrant Youth Alliance, told The Times in a phone interview.
Abdollahi said three parents of the young activists also attempted the border crossing. At least one of the crossers was as young as 14, he said.
Abdollahi said officials “haven’t told us if they’re going to be admitted into the country or returned to Mexico.”
According to the Associated Press, the protesters wore caps and gowns as they crossed into Texas, where border officials detained them.
U.S. Customs and Border Protection told the Associated Press that privacy laws prohibited the agency from discussing individual cases.
The “Dream 9” crossed into Arizona from Mexico in July, demanding legal entrance and protesting U.S. deportation policies. They were detained for weeks until, in August, immigration officials decided all nine could move forward in their bids for asylum. They were released on parole until their day in immigration court, which could take years.
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