Chasing the American Dream is a program to empower and educate our immigrant communities and allies across the country by discussing policies that affect the lives of immigrant families. By using our understanding of the legislative, regulatory, and political process, our program is to promote civic engagement and bring awareness to the American public by telling the stories of our immigrant communities.

Bios:

Yesenia Mata is an education and immigration activist in Chicago and New York City. As the daughter to former undocumented immigrants, Yesenia has advocated for immigration reform in Washington D.C. Growing up in the South Side of Chicago, she saw the urgent need to adequately fund public schools in order for students of color to have a chance of a better future.

She has written for The Hill, Univision and HuffPost on sanctuary cities and Abolishing ICE. She was the former National Latino Outreach Strategist for the Bernie Sander’s Presidential Campaign, where she organized the Latino communities in Chicago, Arizona, New York, Pennsylvania, California and Florida.

She is currently the Political Director for the Dream Action Coalition, a national organization that advocates for immigration reform. She has been recognized by the New York State Hispanic Coalition as a “40 under 40 Rising Star” and received a prestigious Proclamation from the City of New York for her work in the Latinx community.

Cesar Vargas is a nationally recognized leader at the forefront of the fight for immigration reform and the DREAM Act. Mr. Vargas was the National Latino Outreach Strategist for Senator Bernie Sanders' 2016 presidential campaign. He has been recognized as one of HuffingtonPost’s “Prominent Latinos in American Politics”.

Cesar was brought to New York from Mexico at age 5 after his father passed away. He excelled academically and was an honors student in both college and law school. As an undocumented law graduate from the City University of New York School of Law, he led the fight for equal opportunity and access to the practice of law. Cesar works at the heart of the DREAMer movement, the most-vigorous pro-immigrant push by the advocacy communities to date. Nationwide and on Capitol Hill, Cesar and his organization he co-founded, the Dream Action Coalition, have been key players in the policy battle for a better immigration policy.

His advocacy and story helped in the national efforts to convince President Obama to take executive action to create the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) program, a much needed program in light of congressional inaction on immigration reform. Cesar applied to join the New York bar in 2012, but the Second Department's Committee on Character and Fitness recommended against his application because of his immigration status. In June, 2015, and after nearly three-years legal battle, a five-judge panel in New York ruled that Cesar can be admitted to practice law in the state he has called home for most of his life. In February of 2016, he was finally sworn-in as a licensed attorney making history as the first undocumented lawyer to openly apply to the state of New York.