Creating Bonds

Posted on 07/26/2012 @ 10:00 PM

Creating Bonds

The Illinois Coalition for Immigrant and Refugee Rights (ICIRR) in downtown Chicago is an organization working to help undocumented citizens find and take advantage of opportunities to improve their quality of life in the state of Illinois.

On August 15th, they will host a large workshop at Navy Pier to help undocumented students apply for relief through deferred action. At this workshop, called Dream Relief Day, at least 1,800 undocumented youth will get help filling out applications for deferred action. If they qualify, they will not be deported and will be eligible to obtain work permits, social security numbers, and in some states, a driver’s license. The deferred action memorandum was announced by the Obama Administration on June 15th, and August 15th is the first day applications will be available.

The Impact: Chicago group volunteering at ICIRR has been helping ICIRR staff and interns prepare for this event by making phone calls to local schools, creating videos, publicizing on Facebook and Twitter, and putting together presentations to be shown to participating schools.

Today I got the opportunity to work with ICIRR’s public relations manager. I am currently working on an article about Dream Relief Day that will hopefully be published on the ICIRR blog. It is really exciting for me, because I get to do something I love (write) while also learning even more about ICIRR’s mission.

My Impact: Chicago experience, particularly working at ICIRR, has been extremely rewarding. At first, immigration was not an issue I knew much about, or was very concerned with. After spending even just three days at ICIRR, I have learned more than I thought possible, and have become passionate about this cause. I hope to continue my relationship with ICIRR after I return home, and spread awareness about immigration reform in my own region and community.

-Avery Anapol