CASA Youth Committee

nization. Together, with leaders from other committees within CASA, the youth were able to mobilize large numbers of students to tell their immigrant stories and move legislators to pass the Maryland DREAM Act, our in-state tuition bill, in Annapolis in 2011. After opponents successfully organized to take this victory to public referendum, CYC organized a series of large marches for the DREAM Act throughout Maryland, trained countless speakers, register hundreds of voters, and engaged our communities to win the vote by a 16-point margin, securing a path to higher education for all Marylanders and becoming a key victory for the entire movement. After continuing to push the Obama Administration and the Department of Homeland Security on the record numbers of deportations through direct actions and other means, CYC was at the forefront of implementing strategies which enabled us to process thousands of DACA applications for young people in our region. By relying on volunteers from CYC, CASA de Maryland was able to provide assistance and ultimately legalize over 1,800 young members! Now, CYC has once again been at the forefront of the struggle for Immigration Reform, helping to turn out 100,000 to Washington, DC for the April 10th, 2013 rally for Immigration Reform, and one of its leaders, Ricky, sharing his story and representing the DREAMers and the original DREAMers (parents). A group that began with the sons and daughters of leaders of CASA de Maryland's committees of tenants, day-laborers, and domestic-workers, is now a student-led group of action with members in schools and colleges throughout the counties of Montgomery, Prince George, Anne Arundel, Annapolis, and Baltimore!