By: Lidieth Arevalo, CMSC News ~ December 15, 2016
On Wednesday December 14, 2016, the Consulate General of Mexico in Los Angeles hosted a farewell event for a group of 27 DACA-mented students who will be studying in Mexico next week as part of the Winter 2016 California-Mexico Dreamers Study Abroad Program.
Consul General Carlos García de Alba welcomed the students who are taking the challenge and courage to study abroad despite the current political climate regarding the status and continuation of DACA under a Trump presidency.
The California-Mexico Studies Center is excited to announce that nearly all of the participants in our 5th California-Mexico Dreamers Study Abroad Program have been approved for Advanced Parole. In light of the challenges of the current political climate, we are incredibly joyful and grateful that this group of courageous DACA-mented students is determined to study abroad in their native Mexico and take part in a unique 3-week language and cultural travel-study CSULB course in Mexico from December 22, 2016 to January 15, 2017.
Upon arrival, the participating Dreamers will visit Mexico City where they will be immersed in an intensive acculturation and assimilation program agenda which will prepare them culturally, emotionally and psychologically for their unique visit to their country of origin, Mexico.
Subsequently, the Winter 2016 participants will have the chance to travel independently on a family research project and visit their birthplace to reconnect with their families and roots of origin.
Winter 2016 California-Mexico Dreamers Study Abroad Program participants and their relatives at the Consulate General of Mexico in Los Angeles' farewell event. | Photo by: Lidieth Arevalo
After their independent travel, the Dreamers will proceed to Cuernavaca, Morelos, Mexico where they will immerse into a comprehensive language and cultural educational program at the Centro Tlahuica de Lenguas e Intercambio Cultural Institute (CETLALIC); which consists of historical, cultural, linguistic, and academic "cátedras" on social movements, the Mexican educational, economic and political systems, various museum and archeological visits, and a 10-day home-stay living experience with Mexican host families while attending classes at the CETLALIC Institute.
The California-Mexico Studies Center would like to thank Congressman Alan Lowenthal District Office, California State University, Long Beach, Juntos Podemos/Together We Can, IME BECAS, Hermandad Mexicana, and the Mexican Consulate in Los Angeles for their invaluable and continuous support in advocating for the approval of Advance Parole applications.
To learn more about the impact of our Dreamers Study Abroad Program, watch "A Dream Come True, a short documentary narrating the stories of some of the participants in our Winter 2015 California-Mexico Dreamers Study Abroad Program.
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