For Immediate Release
July 18, 2011
Contact: Rev. Dr. William J. Barber, II, President, 919-394-8137
Mrs. Amina J. Turner, Executive Director, 919-682-4700
Atty. Jennifer W. Marsh, Legal Redress Coordinator, 919-682-4700
The North Carolina State Conference of NAACP Branches stands in solidarity with one of its Historic Thousands on Jones Street (HKonJ) Partners--the North Carolina DREAM Team--to protest the unjust possible deportation of a young Latino student, Erick Velazquillo (A#200970380).
"We stand with our partner, the NC DREAM Team, in its fight to stop the deportation of Erick Velazquillo. The DREAM Team is an inspiring group of young undocumented activists and their allies who have challenged the arbitrary and dehumanizing criminalization of young immigrants in NC," said Rev. Dr. William J. Barber II, President of the NC NAACP. "North Carolina is lucky to have these Dreamers. Those of us whose ancestors were classed as non-citizens for 250 years during slavery know well how easy it is to criminalize people because of their color or national origin. We stand in solidarity with our brothers and sisters who are pushed to the margins because the racialized politics of the extreme right is blocking a comprehensive immigration policy."
Erick was brought to the U.S. as a 2-year-old infant. He knows no other home. Erick is an athlete, an aspiring nutritionist, and wants to stay and help build his country- the United States of America. He is a student who is eligible under the DREAM Act, a federal law that was narrowly defeated last December, that would have provided a path to citizenship for a carefully defined group of students and military personnel who were brought to the U.S. as small children. Extremists in our country have created an agenda that panders to racial fears. Part of that agenda is to punish young people like Erick for growing up in the U.S.
On July 19, 2011, Erick's case will be heard by an Immigration Court in Charlotte, North Carolina. The Court could "deport" him to a country he does not remember.
"The NAACP's sole purpose is to dismantle the system of racism that has caused so much suffering in North America," said Rev. Barber. "Whenever anyone attacks our Latino and undocumented brothers and sisters, they attack our NAACP members; they attack all people of color; and they attack all people of good will who believe we must repair the breach in the human race caused by racism, not widen it. We urge Senators Richard Burr and Kay Hagan, U.S. Secretary of Homeland Security Janet Napolitano and Director of U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) John Morton to intervene on Erick's behalf."
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