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Congress Will Be Confronted With Stories From DACA Recipients Every Day Until The Holiday Break Because Of This Jumbotron

@marianalesandra / Twitter
By December 15, 2017 at 3:28 pm

The holiday break for Congress is fast approaching and millions are still waiting on legislators to make a decision on The Dream Act. Many politicians in Congress have threatened to shut down the government by not passing a budget for the coming year if a decision on The Dream Act doesn’t happen. The original deadline for that decision was Dec. 8 but Congress managed to pass a small budget bill to fund the government up to a Dec. 22 deadline. Americans and Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) recipients are applying more pressure to Congress to act before the holiday break to save millions of people who would benefit from The Dream Act.

Immigration rights group United We Dream is bringing the fight directly to Congress.

The activist group has set up a video screen they call the DreamActTron, which faces the Capitol building and shares stories of DACA recipients and those who would benefit from The Dream Act.

Anyone can participate in the project by posting a video of themselves telling their story on Instagram or Twitter and using #DreamActNow. The DreamActTron will stay in place for the rest of the session, so legislators will be confronted with the stories 24/7.

House Speaker Paul Ryan and others will be forced to see the faces of the people their choices are impacting.

According to American Progress, more that 12,000 people have lost their DACA status since the Trump administration rescinded the order on Sept. 5. An estimated 122 people will lose their DACA protections every day that Congress doesn’t pass The Dream Act. Losing DACA is more than losing a protected status. People who lose DACA are losing their access to driver’s licenses, work permits, and a chance at an education.

Congress has the time to act but Speaker Ryan has not acknowledged whether or not The Dream Act will come up for a vote in time.

According to a PolitiFact fact check, 76 percent, or two-thirds of the American public, support the passage of The Dream Act. With that much support for the measure, why don’t those in Congress want to do what their constituents want?

Tell us:


READ: Get To Know The Dream Act Of 2017 And How We Got To This Important Bill

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The Honduran Supreme Court Lifted A Constitutional Ban On Presidential Terms And Hondurans Are Protesting The Decision

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The Honduran Supreme Court Lifted A Constitutional Ban On Presidential Terms And Hondurans Are Protesting The Decision

By Jorge Rodriguez-Jimenez December 18, 2017 at 2:03 pm

The electoral commission gave the Honduran presidency to incumbent Juan Orlando Hernández.

The electoral commission of Honduras ruled that Juan Orlando Hernández will serve as president for a second term. Critics say that this decision is against the country’s constitution that limits presidents to only one term. The Honduran Supreme Court lifted a constitutional ban that limited presidential terms, which allowed for U.S.-backed Hernández to run for re-election. Officials with the Organization of American States (OAS), and organization that brings leaders from the Americas to address issues and opportunities in the region, are pressuring Honduras for a new vote because of irregularities they found in the voting process. The irregularities are too suspicious to have just happened by coincidence, according to critics.

Honduras has been rocked by violence since the election took place on Nov. 26. The discrepancies in the vote counting led to weeks of protests, strict nationwide curfews, and the deaths of activists at the hands of police. Reports claim that dozens of people have been killed in clashes during protests. The new announcement by the electoral commission has sparked new protests around the country.

“There were multiple opportunities for fraud in this election, and only a determination by impartial international observers that the vote tally was fair and transparent will provide the necessary credibility to the process,” Senator Patrick Leahy of Vermont, told The New York Times.

Protesters have taken to the streets demanding that Hernández step down as president.

“Fuera JOH” has become a rallying cry for Hondurans in the country and around the world. Officials for OAS are calling the election results too inconsistent. According to an analysis by Georgetown University professor Irfan Nooruddin, there was a sharp shift in votes favoring Hernández after 68 percent of the votes were counted. While this could be a sign of early v. late-reporting, Nooruddin claims that the amount of change across all departments is too great for it to be by chance.

Protesters have shut down major roads to bring awareness to the contested election results.

Protesters are using starting fires and using objects to create road blocks that impact major roadways in the country.

Honduras has not seen this level of political turmoil since 2009 when a coup was mounted to oust the leader at the time.

Pressure continues mounting for a new election, with more regulation to make sure votes are properly counted. Only time will tell if the Honduran government will allow for new elections.


READ: After Claims Of Electoral Fraud, Hondurans Are Fighting Their Government For A More Transparent Vote Recount

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Honduras, South America, politics