Tag: Department of Homeland Security

Trail of Dreams

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Four students, three of whom are undocumented, are traveling 1,500 miles from Miami to DC for immigration reform. On foot.
Four students, three of whom are undocumented, are traveling 1,500 miles from Miami to DC for immigration reform. On foot.

 

“Sometimes we see numbers and we forget the faces.”

 

These are the words of 23-year-old Florida student Felipe Matos, referring to the 10.8 million immigrants living the United States undocumented, as estimated by the Department of Homeland Security. 

 

Felipe is one of a group of four college students trekking 1,500 miles from Miami to Washington, DC to promote immigration reform through the DREAM Act. 

 

But they are not driving.  They are walking.

 

They call their journey “Trail of Dreams.”

 

This past week they toured the Upstate and I had the privilege of spending some time with them walking on the trail, at their place of shelter, and again when they spoke at my university.  (photos of their journey)

 

For me, it was “Love at first read.”  I heard about their movement about two months ago when I accidentally stumbled across their blog and have been virtually following them ever since via Facebook, Flickr, and Twitter. 

 

The “Dreamers” have gained national attention from media outlets such as:

 

 

Along their journey they have encountered many who oppose the reform they are trying to bring about.  (In Georgia, they were greeted by the KKK and Butch Conway, the Gwinnett county sheriff who is a major supporter of Proposition 287(g)!)

  

Immigration is a controversial subject and a comprehensive issue. 

 

While I do not have everything figured out yet, I do know this:  No human being is illegal.

 

Carlos put it well when he said, “We deserve to live in hope. Everyone deserves the chance to achieve their dreams.”

 

This is what they plan to tell President Obama when they arrive in DC on May 1st. 

 

And I plan to be there to hear it. 

Trail podcast

A turn for the worse or the better?

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      “These acts shattered steel, but they cannot dent the steel of American resolve.”  These were the words of President Bush at approximately 8:30 pm on the night of September 11, 2001. This day marked the turning point in our nation’s attention to airport security.  The TSA, with whom we associate airport security measures, was created from the Aviation and Transportation Security Act (ATSA) passed on November 19, 2001.  This administration is now part of the Department of Homeland Security (DHS), created in November 2002, which deals with threats to the security of our nation.

September 11, 2001 - Source: AP Photo/Chao Soi Cheong
September 11, 2001 - Source: AP Photo/Chao Soi Cheong

According to the timeline of September 11th, chronicled on CNN.com, the terrorists aboard the four hijacked planes were “armed only with knives.”  With the creation of the TSA, regulations regarding baggage and other security measures have been enacted to better protect airline passengers. These rules have evolved into extremely advanced protocols for monitoring air safety.  One of the first acts of the TSA was to ensure that all checked luggage was screened for explosive materials.  These screening processes have come to include fairly invasive strategies that are hoped to limit the threat of terrorism in the air.
               

                Everyone who has flown in the past year has experienced these inconvenient measures.  We should be asking ourselves… Should I really have to take off my shoes, belt and jacket while going through the metal detector? Does having only 3 oz. of liquids or less really protect me while on a flight? Do heavier screenings for passengers really keep the terrorists off of flights? Are we safer now in-flight than before September 11th?  The government believes the answer to all of these questions is YES!  By examining the safety measures taken to protect air passengers, especially those invoved in international flight, we can see how strong relationships with other countries are paramount to making air travel safe.