There has been much talk recently of our immigration policy and the possibility of comprehensive immigration reform, but too often these discussions, especially in the halls of Congress, lack a human and family dimension. In the first half of 2011, 46,000 undocumented immigrants were deported from the United States. Depending on which new outlet reports that fact, we may hear a variety of terms used to describe those people, ranging from “illegal aliens,” or “illegal immigrants,” to “undocumented immigrants,” or simply “immigrants.” Rarely do we hear: “46,000 parents  were torn away from their children and deported to another country in the first half of 2011.” A Wish for the Holidays campaign wants to change that.

It's a simple holiday wish: having your family together. For many immigrant children, having mom or dad at home is all they want. In the first six months of 2011, 46,000 parents of children were torn away from their families and deported. Now, children are writing to Congress to ask for action to stop these deportations. 

Gaby Pacheco, the leader of the DREAM youth movement from Miami and one of the co-founders of Students Working for Equal Rights, tells her story in a recent TEDx Talk. Pacheco moved to the United States from Ecuador when she was eight. She grew up a hardworking student who was elected student government president of Miami Dade Community College and the statewide community college student government organization. Along the way she faced many obstacles as an aspiring citizen, from an encounter with the Ku Klux Klan to the inability to find work because of her lack of papers verifying citizenship.

A 13-year-old Arizonan and Adiós Arpaio volunteer had to stand up and be the man of the house because his father was deported. An 18-year-old was pulled over while driving and sent to jail because he didn't have the right documentation. These are the stories that energized Latinos, teenagers and Arizona's working families to create political change in their community. 

Adiós Arpaio, a campaign that set out to oust Sheriff Joe Arpaio, recruited 2,000 high school students to canvass and register more than 34,000 new voters. 

UNITE HERE sends us this video detailing the on-the-ground work of Arizonans who were determined to stop families from being torn apart and young people being sent to jail.

This weekend, more than 600 youth activists gathered in Kansas City, Mo., to discuss strategies and outline priorities for the United We Dream (UWD) network. UWD is the largest immigrant youth organization in the country with 47 affiliates in 25 states. The National Congress provided an opportunity for participants to celebrate Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals and their successful "I am a DREAM Voter" get out the vote campaign. 

President Obama came out Wednesday in opposition to Rep. Lamar Smith's (R-Texas) STEM Act, which would increase the number of visas available to highly skilled immigrants while reducing the visas available to people coming from countries with low rates of immigration to the United States. The bill would add 55,000 visas to masters and doctoral degree holders in science, technology, engineering and mathematics and it would eliminate all of the so-called "diversity" visas.

Think Progress reports DREAMers with work permits in Massachusetts will now be eligible for in-state tuition in state schools. 

DREAMers are aspiring citizens who're eligible for work permits under President Obama's deferred action program.

This is a cross-post from The Huffington Post's Spanish-language site, Voces, by AFL-CIO President Richard Trumka. Read "El Cambio en Nuestras Comunidades se Logra Con Unión y Determinación" on The Huffington Post. 

What is often missing from the highly politicized discussions about Arizona’s immigration policies and Sheriff Joe Arpaio’s law enforcement practices are the stories of people who live with those policies and practices on a day-to-day basis. People like 15-year-old Carmen of Tempe, Ariz. Carmen’s story helps us see that change is not only possible, but becoming more real every day.  

Neidi Dominguez, an organizer with the CLEAN Carwash Campaign, sends us this excerpt from her opinion column on Politics 365. 

When President Obama announced in June that he would grant certain young, undocumented immigrants the opportunity to avoid deportation and work legally in the United States, thousands of people felt the cloud of stress and fear, which shadows our lives, begin to lift. That announcement was an important step to advance the rights of aspiring citizens in this country. 

It’s a refrain that’s all too familiar for America’s working families—anti-worker politicians and special interests use divide-and-conquer strategies in hopes that highlighting our differences will split us apart. 

A new documentary film "Harvest of Empire," opening in select theaters this Friday, examines the inherent contradiction in American policies that have compelled Latino immigrants to migrate to the United States—but at the same time closed the doors to opportunity for aspiring citizens.