Local group to march in Washington D.C.

WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind. (WLFI) - Area students and community members are heading to Washington D.C. to march for immigrant rights. The group is supporting the Development, Relief and Education for Alien Minors (DREAM) Act.

Over 40 people from the Greater Lafayette area, Crawfordsville and Frankfort will be leaving Saturday to march in support of the DREAM Act.

Should the DREAM Act be passed, immigrant students who graduate from U.S. high schools, arrived in the United States as minors and have been in the country continuously for at least five years would have the opportunity to earn conditional permanent residency. Currently, alien minors can only get permanent status through their parents. If a child is brought into the country undocumented, there is no method of becoming a documented resident in the United States.

Group coordinator Virginia Del Real said people are going to educate themselves, so they can educate their communities.

"For the purpose of learning about it. The experience. I think many of them want to go to get that passion back in to come back and start raising awareness of these issues. To see if we can get supporters and just to talk to our representatives," Del Real said.

Hector Avila is one of the 40 people going to Washington D.C. on Sunday to march. He is marching because he believes if a student goes through the U.S. public school system, they should have the right to pursue a higher education.

"There's many students that have very, very good chances of being something big, let it be a doctor or a lawyer," he said. "Just because their parents brought them over when they were children, they didn't have any say. It was their parents' decision to bring them to the United States. I don't think they should really be punished for that."

Right now, many students in the country undocumented can't get financial aid for college or even get into college. Del Real hopes the marching will inspire the group.

"When we come back, I want these students to have the passion and the energy and the desire to want to do something in this community," Del Real said.

Area businesses helped the group raise over $5,000 in a weeks time to fund the trip. The group will be leaving for the capital Saturday, marching all day Sunday and then leaving for Indiana late Sunday night.