Press Release

For Immediate Release
July 31, 2015

CONTACT:
English: Healy Ko, hko@nakasec.org, 267-304-5260
Korean: Ga Young, gchung@nakasec.org, 217-281-2267

“Dream Riders Across America” Deliver DACA/DAPA Letter to Attorney General Bondi and Stories to Community Members in Tampa, Florida

TAMPA, FLORIDA – On July 31, 2015, the Dream Riders Across America arrived in Tampa, Florida after driving from Atlanta, Georgia to hold a local press conference and deliver a message to Florida Attorney General Pam Bondi and the Tampa community underscoring the importance of supporting immigrant rights and racial justice. A delegation of two Dream Riders and local community members made the letter delivery with signatures from Floridians and other supporters to Attorney General Bondi’s office asking her to withdraw from the Texas v. U.S. lawsuit and sign on to the amicus brief in support of President Obama’s executive actions on the expanded Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) and Deferred Action for Parents of U.S. Citizens and Lawful Permanent Residents (DAPA). Local organizations including Faith in Florida, Mi Familia Vota, and SEIU’s Florida chapter joined Dream Riders Across America for this push to send a unified message that it immigrant rights and racial justice affect all our communities, including those in Tampa and throughout the State of Florida.

Presidential candidate, Jeb Bush, who was also in Florida this day, has previously shared his willingness to move forward on something providing legalization for immigrants residing in the United States without documents. DACA and DAPA are programs that would benefit these same community members who are also waiting for a permanent fix to the broken immigration system.

Bo Daraphant, Dream Rider from Los Angeles, shared how expanded DACA would impact his life and why he is committed to building a progressive network of youth across the nation: “The Dream Riders Across America bus tour would be another page to a new chapter of my life. I see opportunity to grow through expanding my horizon and being inspired from people who agree passionate about social issues all over the US. This can also be the time for us to show the world that the whole crew is willing to work toward equality and justice. It is a lot of work being put into this project: organizer, recruiter, driver, rider, etc, and we’re not the only one working this hard out there for change.”

Ellie Wingfield, Dream Rider from Los Angeles, said: “I want to bring attention to all the violence in the world towards black and brown communities. We know what were running from, but what are we running towards? We have to start moving forward. I want to make positive changes not only in my community, but changes that will help better the world we live in.”

The Dream Riders are departing from Tampa to arrive in their next destination, Alabama, on Monday, August 3 for a rally in Montgomery and a brief stop in Selma.