Dream 9 Causes Backlash

Nearly two weeks after staging what is now widely viewed in immigration circles as either a heroic act of selfless civil disobedience or a foolhardy monkey-wrenching escapade, a group of nine undocumented immigrants, aged 19 to 37 and known as the “Dream 9,” sit in an Arizona detention center awaiting their uncertain fates.

The Dream 9 crossed the border from Mexico to Arizona on July 22, and were immediately arrested by federal officials for violating immigration law and detained at a center in Eloy, Arizona.

Two of them are in solitary confinement, says their Tucson lawyer Margo Cowan. She’s seeking the parole of all nine on humanitarian grounds, or, alternatively, a release via political asylum. In the meantime, Dream 9 strategists have pressured members of congress to badger the Obama administration into springing the immigrants. They’ve launched fasts, prayer vigils, sit-ins, and demonstrations to bring attention to the plight of the Dream 9. They’ve also lashed back, viciously, on social media against those who have questioned the Dream 9 strategy.

Read more on The Daily Beast