Dreamers set up giant screen sharing immigrant stories facing Capitol

A group of pro-immigrant activists on Tuesday installed a massive video screen facing the Capitol, hoping to catch the attention of Republican leaders in Congress.

“Basically we’re telling [Speaker] Paul Ryan that we can’t wait,” said Nestor Ruiz, director of programming for the screen the group is calling the “DreamActTron.”

The screen is part of a campaign led by United We Dream (UWD), an advocacy organization that fights for Dreamers — undocumented immigrants who came to the country as minors.

It’s placed on the National Mall, facing the Capitol, in clear view of Ryan’s (R-Wis.) office.{mosads}

The group is pushing for a replacement for the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) program to be passed before the end of the year. The group’s preferred legislative vehicle is also the favorite of Democrats in Congress, the Dream Act.

Ryan and other Republican leaders have said the real deadline to deal with DACA legislation is in March, when the program is set to end officially.

But Ruiz said that, since President Trump canceled the program in September, 122 beneficiaries are losing their right to work and remain in the United States every day.

“We don’t have time to lose. We have immigrant youth losing protections every day,” he said.

The DreamActTron will show stories of DACA recipients and other Dreamers and how their lives are affected by immigration enforcement measures.

Some stories will be uploaded by Ruiz and his team, while others will be sent in through social media.

Ruiz said the stories will have the function of “basically telling the president and the Congress why we need a Dream Act now.”

Bruna Bouhid, the national communications manager for UWD, said the screen will “allow people who aren’t in D.C. to interact with the campaign” to participate.

UWD will set up tents around the screen for activism training and for keeping protesters from around the country busy between political activities.

Ruiz said he’s confident the campaign can help push a DACA fix over the top, adding that the group is “trying to protect more people because our issue is more than just DACA.”

But if legislation doesn’t come before the end of the year, Ruiz says the campaign will keep going.

“If that happens our community is going to continue fighting, we are here to stay and we’re not going back into the shadows,” he said.