Introduction:
Grassroots
movements and social movements surrounding the Development, Relief and Education for Alien Minors Act
(DREAM Act) have caught more attention and momentum through
social networks. Social media sites such as Myspace, Facebook, Twitter,
LinkedIn and Blog Sites help to spread information, news, gather followers and
publicize events. From the time Facebook was founded in 2004, it has gained 845
million monthly active users globally by the end of December 2011 (Facebook Newsroom, 2012) . In researching the costs and benefits of social
networking in social movements there is a notable gap between causes that have
reached their goals and those that are stuck in the web of the internet.
Background:
In regards to the Development, Relief and
Education for Alien Minors Act (DREAM Act), the amount of people in support of
the legislation is equal to the amount of people who are uninformed about it. The
original bill was introduced in 2001, however due to the unfortunate terrorist
attack in September the bill was pushed back and a military aspect was added
before it was brought back to the floor in 2004. The DREAM Act as it stands
today states that individuals intending to attend a form of higher education or
join the military, that were brought to the United States by the age of 16 and
have been residing here for a minimum of five years can qualify for conditional
lawful permanent resident (LPR) status. With LPR they will have to continue
abiding by all laws, including but not limited to traffic violations, state or
city infractions, etc. Meaning that of the 11 million individuals that are
undocumented, only 2.1 million would qualify within the age range in the DREAM
Act. Of those, approximately 114,000 individuals have earned at least an
associate’s degree and would qualify for the conditional LPR status.
Approximately 612,000 individuals have earned their high school diploma or
General Education Degree (GED) and would be eligible to attain permanent status
after serving in the military for a minimum of 2 years or completing 2 years of
college. 934,000 children under the age of 18 are potential DREAM Act
participants so long as they complete high school or attain a GED and pursue
college or join the military. There are 489,000 individuals who may qualify for
LPR if they earn their GED (Immigration Policy Center, 2011) .
From
2004 to date there have been many qualified and note-worthy students who have
learned from American schools and earned American degrees that are forced to
leave the country that they call home so they can work and put their education
to use. It is unfortunate and many people believe it should change. There have
been many events, petitions, conversations and information spread through
social networking tools. In questioning the method of social media as a main
source of organizing, there are concerns in why this particular piece of
legislation has not gotten the attention it merits and why the act has not
fully passed. In questioning the validity of mass communication and outreach,
there may be another key component missing from this tool.
Potential Benefits:
In 2008 with the election of our current
President, Barack Obama, social media triggered the youth to vote in this
historical election. This platform is what helped other organizations step up
and try to connect with the same audience. In doing so, it is possible that the
youth that we so captured by the innovation of the Obama campaign lost interest
in other campaigns. The benefit seen in the election campaigns is that media
outreach is a sector of it’s own. There is also a significant difference
between this example and the DREAM Act, there was a main figurehead.
Although there is no “face” to the DREAM
Act, there is a definite benefit in following the example of the successful
campaign of President Obama. In comparison to the black power movement, Martin
Luther King Jr. became the figurehead and leader to embody the movement. In the
Irish Immigration Reform Movement, the nomination and election of President
John F. Kennedy really made a significant leap for the equal treatment of the
Irish population. There are plenty of congressmen and senators who are
immigrants themselves, however they have not transcended the barriers that
would make affordable education and a pathway to citizenship for DREAM students
a reality.
Legal and Ethical
Issues:
Due to social networking sites, signing a
petition in support of various causes is as simple as clicking three buttons.
In the ease of doing so, the degree of concern legislators put in validating
those numbers has lessened dramatically. After submitting thousands of the same
petitions to the same individuals in power, the purpose gets overlooked and
dismissed.
The
DREAM Act, Equal Access to Education and Immigration Reform are ethnically,
socially, politically or ideologically complex, that it is taking quite some
time for a united front to emerge. As I see it, being the face of this issue
gets complicated because culturally Latinos are raised to be modest when it
comes to taking credit. An infamous phrase, “quien
soy yo?” or “who am i?” is typical in Latino cultures to denounce
praise or recognition. Although the DREAM Act affects all members of this
society, not just the Latino community, the larger population primarily
thinks Hispanic. Due to the
uncertainty that binds undocumented individuals to the shadows of this country,
others are weary to step up to be “the one.” Other ethnic groups hardly jump up
to take the stigma, who would blame them? It’s easier to wait for someone else
to do the harder tasks, or hide behind others to not get caught- a very
legitimate fear.
“Thompson
v. Thompson, 2002 WL 1072342 (D.N.H. May 30, 2002). The copying of email
messages from the hard drive of a personal computer does not constitute
interception of electronic communications for the purposes of the Electronic
Communications Privacy Act of 1986. The court reasoned that an interception can
only occur “during transmission” of electronic communication transfers; thus,
the acquisition of stored email does not qualify as an interception under the
ECPA.” (Forentech).
Social Problems:
Great
strides in immigration have been made, some individuals have tried on small scales,
spoken with national press and spoken up online; for some reason, the major
public is still not listening. Today, social media is evidentially playing it’s
own role in the mobilization as well, which perhaps is why it’s so hard for one
person to reach the greater public. With so many people having access to so
much information electronically and researching similar movements, the movement
has been reaching a standstill because constant innovation is now the norm.
Social
media is not all bad, aside from being a distraction for most college students;
it is absolutely helpful in reaching different audiences and spreading news
quickly. Using social media is simple for anyone to join; however being
an effective user of social networking outlets is rare. As the newer
branch of marketing and public relations- social networking sites force any
company, organization, individual to be a constantly updating their pages. If
they’re not ahead of the curve- they’re not up to date, if they’re not on
Facebook- they don’t exist. In looking at the DREAM Act in specific, there are
thousands of online petitions, blogs, tweets, status, and updates all over
social media. Those within networks of people who are in support of the DREAM
Act have some knowledge of what it is. However individual networks only reach
an audience of the people they know. Reaching out of our networks, beyond party
lines, beyond religious lines, beyond race or gender lines, more people would
see and relate to the discrimination going on with good Samaritans who are
seeking an education and a pathway to citizenship. Relating to one another,
recognizing the struggle of one is a struggle for many are two ingredients that
are typically missed in fighting solely for a specific issue.
Security Concerns:
Effective organizations surrounding social movements require leadership, organization and creativity. At this time in society, social media and online petitions have lost their value as more people use them excessively. Now in order for movements to continue here, meeting with people in person, mobilizing people to get physical signatures and physically meet with their government officials or other people in power will get the proper attention needed. The security issues surrounding the DREAM Act would be a result of ignorance and radical violence from opposition. Security is an issue in social media in general with phishing, the possibility of getting hacked; the information stated being retraceable, etc.
