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Dreamers Protest Flags (U.S.)

Last modified: 2019-09-12 by rick wyatt
Keywords: united states | dreamer protest |
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[Dreamers protest flag] image by Pete Loeser, 18 February 2018

See also:

Introduction: What is a Dreamer?

As a result of the immigration policies and reforms of the Trump administration aimed against the so-called Dream Act a series of nation-wide protest resulted. The Dream Act is a piece of legislation first introduced to Congress in 2001 that would create a pathway to citizenship to young people who were brought to the United States as children without documentation. The children had grown up in this country and considered themselves to be American, but lacked the documents to fully engage in society. After Congress failed to pass the Dream Act in 2010, although it had 70 percent voters approval, the Obama Administration on June 15, 2012 announced a temporary program allowing Dreamers to come forward, pass a background check, and apply for work permits. The program was called the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) and allows applicants to request consideration of deferred action for a period of two years, subject to renewal. DACA allowed nearly 800,000 young undocumented people to work legally, and live without fear of deportation. The positives of the program was it kept families together, promoted education and community integration, and strengthened civic ties. However, the so-called Dreamers were still not provided a pathway to citizenship under the DACA program. Since it was created through an executive order, presidents after Obama had the authority to rescind the DACA program at any time, which the Trump Administration did.
While the majority of Dreamers are Latino, they are a diverse group and come from a multitude of countries and cultures. Seven of the top 24 countries for Dreamers are in Asia, Europe, or the Caribbean. Tens of thousands of young Dreamers come from South Korea, the Philippines, India, Jamaica, Tobago, Poland, Nigeria, Pakistan, Brazil, the Dominican Republic, and Guyana.
Pete Loeser, 18 February 2018

Dreamer Protest Flags

[Dreamers protest flag]     [Dreamers protest flag]
images by Pete Loeser, 18 February 2018

According to my original source, David Ott, (and a French news video found by Ivan Sache) these flags were used at a Dreamer Protest in Washington DC. In case you are not familiar with the term "Dreamers" it refers to kids, many now adults, who were brought into the US illegally as very young children and raised in the United States, now fighting to be able to stay in the US, the only country they have really known.
The flags seemed to have been handmade with various circle designs glued on a red background. These are:

  1. WE FIGHT BACK
  2. RESISTO (I Resist)
  3. SIN MIEDO (Without Fear)
Pete Loeser, 18 February 2018

It is important to note:

  • The protesters are Latin Americans and some U.S. residents/citizens as well. The context is the defense of the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) which was an American immigration policy that allowed some individuals who entered the country as minors, and had either entered or remained in the country illegally, to receive a renewable two-year period of deferred action from deportation and to be eligible for a work permit.
  • The policy was established by executive action (established on June 15, 2012, by a memorandum from the Secretary of Homeland Security titled "Exercising Prosecutorial Discretion with Respect to Individuals Who Came to the United States as Children") rather than legislation, however, participating individuals are still commonly referred to as DREAMers (source) after the DREAM Act; a bipartisan bill first proposed on August 1, 2001 that was the first of a number of subsequent efforts in the U.S. House and Senate to provide an opportunity for certain illegal immigrants who were brought to the US as children to attend college and eventually become permanent citizens of the United States, which has failed several times.
  • The key difference being that DACA provides no such path to citizenship. Several controversies derive from this key immigration approach, such as "children of legal migrants won't qualify as Dreamers under DACA protection because they entered the country legally. Also, the fact that the word "dreamer" has been used by foreigners in their pursuit of legalizing their status in seeking better ways of living, and now locals are using it too to describe themselves that they also have the right to access the "American way of life" or "the American dream" (hence the word "dreamer").
  • The proper translation for the inscription in each flag (given the state of affairs) is: RESISTO (I TAKE A STAND) and SIN MIEDO (NO FEAR).
Esteban Rivera, 19 February 2018

Make the Road Flag - Pennsylvania

[Dreamers protest flag] image by Pete Loeser, 18 February 2018

The "Make the Road Flag is an organization fighting inequity and economic injustice for farm workers. There are chapters of the organization in New Jersey, Pennsylvania, and Connecticut, to name a few. The Pennsylvania Chapter flag was used during the Dreamer demonstrations in Washington, D.C.
Pete Loeser, 18 February 2018

The flag actually features the logo (Make The Road logo) of "Make the Road Pennsylvania" (official website). On top it reads "Make the road Pennsylvania" and on the bottom it reads in Spanish Dignidad, Comunidad y Poder (Dignity, Community and Power). The logo features a series of characters in black and white, over a set of houses, that represent the community (mostly immigrants). The flag seems to be spotted on the protests (Protests against Donald Trump/Inauguration Protests) held in Washington D.C. during the presidential inauguration (January 20).
There are different versions of their logo according to the chapter they represent:

"Make the road" was created in the fall of 2007 through the merger of "Make the Road by Walking" and the "Latin American Integration Center," two of New York City's most innovative and effective grass roots organizations. The merger was a natural partnership that built on proven successes and created a new state-level organization that combines democratic accountability to low-income people and an innovative mix of strategies to confront inequity and economic injustice, while fostering deep and active community roots. They intend to expanding Civil Rights, promoting health, improve housing, winning workplace justice, improve public education and empower the youth. Several other chapters have been established, the main one being Make the road New York."

"Make the Road By Walking (MRBW) was founded in 1997 in Bushwick, Brooklyn, to help immigrant welfare recipients who suffered illegal disruptions in their public benefits in the wake of welfare reform. Vilified in the national welfare debate, MRBW helped community members organize to make their voices heard, ultimately changing the conversation and improving policy in New York City to ensure equal access to public services. MRBW integrated multiple approaches to fighting poverty and injustice, including education, high quality legal and support services, community organizing and leadership development. Over the decade of the organization's existence, MRBW expanded its organizing and services programs substantially, and helped to win four more major City policy improvements."(official website) The flag in use may not likely be an official flag of this organization, but rather a "composite" or "in site" flag, made for that event only (I have not seen any other related flags since). Notice that in the video, the flags featuring words in the inner circle, are actually white patches on red flags. For additional information go to Make the road (official website)
Esteban Rivera, 19 February 2018
* corrections to broken links and additions by Tomislav Todorovic, 27 August 2019