they lived the american experience, legally, though, they are outsiders. young people from asia, africa, and the caribbean, now dare to dream when it comes to immigration reform. ♪ they grow up hiding in plain site. a diverse group of young people who say they feel invisible whenever immigration policy comes up for discussion. roughly 27% of the estimated

unauthorized immigrants came from countries to the north, east, and west. among them young people, who are now part of the dream act. but the group we're talking about, and with today, feels left out of the immigration conversation because of their ethnicity. >> i believe a lot of people think it's just a latino or mexican issue, and i'm proof it is not. when you have all of these people from asia, europe, and africa, as well, it's a global issue that affects all of us. >> members of this group of diversion dreamers are stepping out of the margins and into the main stream to lend their faces and voices to the debate. wajahat ali is struggling all of your feedback. and waj, a lot of our audience says this immigration reform

focuses way too narrowly on one group. >> right. i love this show. this is julio who said we have got to get a shout out to . . . and of course a lot of opinions. here is dena . . . well put latino news. you the viewer at home are part of "the stream" team. you join the discussion. join us today. >> our guests have lived as undocumented immigrants at various points. they are all in good standing now. here with us in studio is

kamall. he came to america when he was 11. and kevin lee, his parents imma grated from south korea in 1999. aldin was recruited to teach in new york when he was just 12. and tina travelled to the u.s. as a tolder when her dad was granted a business visa. kamall who are the dreamers? >> the dreamers are named after the dream act, which was introduced in 2001 and introduced at each congressional session since. these are people who come here at a young age who are american in essentially every way, except for the paperwork, but as they

live their lives here they face the struggles of being able to access education, get a diver's license and being able to work. the point of the struggle is about giving them a pathway to citizenship, and provide them with access to education, loans and instate tuition, that sort of thing. >> waj and i were talking earlier that everyone on the show has an incredible story, and we want to make sure we get to that. kevin tell us about your story. >> hi, thanks for having me again. and i came here to the u.s. when i was nine years old from south korea. there was a severe economic crisis back then, and my parents made a very deep, you know, leap

of faith moving to this country, and when we first got here, it was a struggle, like most immigrant families, and i knew when i was growing up, that i was undocumented, because my parents would go out to work and before they would leave they would tell me kevin, lock the doors and when somebody knocks look through the back window and see if it's law enforcement because they could take you away, and my mother used to tell me always, you know, don't tell your best friends, your neighbors, you know, maybe that you know about your status, because, you know, you can be taken away from us. >> kevin what kind of stress did that cause for you as a little kid? >> looking back, i think it was a tremendous sense of fear knowing that you could always be deported, knowing that your parent could always be gone, and this is sort of the struggle of

so many immigrant youth and people is they have this looming fear behind the back of their heads that they can always be deported even though they fully want to contribute to this society, and going on with my story, and it become really difficult because i would pledge allegiance to the flag every day, learning everything the american way, thinking of myself as truly american, and when i came of age -- when i was in high school, i knew i was different. i couldn't get a driver's license or a work permit, at the end of my high school year i knew that i can't -- i thought i couldn't apply for colleges and universities and aspire for higher education. >> kevin i'm going to bring in some community right here. ali says . . .

so alds -- alden i'm going to go to you for this. talk about a possible escape plan. >> i'm alds -- alden and a cop can stop me just because of the color of skin or because they assume that i'm going to commit a crime because i look african american. unfortunately because i'm not african american, and undocumented, what they can now do is report us to ice, and i

can now be detained or deported for just not having indication. >> but the u.s. government asked your mom to come here and teach in some of the most trying schools in new york city, right? >> right. the department of education in 2001 they went all the way to the caribbean to get the best and brightest teachers to teach in some of the hardest schools in new york city. my mother taught special education for 32 years, and they told her she was going to get a bunch of things, but one of the things we all expected to get was green cards. up until i turned 21 i actually expected to become a citizen and when i turned 21 and my mom didn't get a green card that's when i realized i aged out.

>> and president obama used his executive authority to provide relief for people like alden. that allows young people to work legally and attend school. participants must reapply, however, every four years. tina you qualified for this program, tell us how it has affected your life. >> well, when i was in high school, i couldn't drive and had to take the city bus to go to school, and during the time my family was hit with a flood, and we had no government help and lost everything. after i received deca, i was able to work and drive, and it gave me an identity. most people think you can travel by air, but when you turn 18 you wouldn't be able to do that

unless you have a legal id. and i was able to use that id to travel throughout america to organize for the dream act and be able to drive to school. >> and you came here as a toddler with your dad on his business visa, right? >> i did. he was a medical professional. he wanted to expand, and he wanted the american dream. he wanted to be an entrepreneur. so originally we moved to florida and he decided to take spanish business, but it obviously didn't work out, and he was denied renewal, and that's when i become undocumented. >> daca is seen as a stopgap measure. the president agrees. >> precisely because this is temporary, congress needs to act. there is still time for act to pass the dream act this year, because these kids deserve to

plan their lives in more than two-year inkorea krimentes, and we still need to pass comprehensive immigration reform. >> what should be done to address these issues? and should people like kevin and alden and tina have an expedited path to citizenship? we'll discuss that on the other side of the break.

[ technical difficulties ] >> columbian, american. >> but we are undocumented.

[ technical difficulties ] >> urging congress to tackle immigration reform. in june senator responded with action, passing legislation that provided a path to citizenship, but it's really anyone's guess if the bill is going to become law. waj we asked your community what issues should be addressed with regard to immigration reform. >> right. >> being a dreamer, kevin, you participated in a dream rider's

trip across the country last month. what was the purpose? >> the purpose was to go around various states with a group of dreamers, young dreamers and to visit and share our stories, our experiences as -- living as undocumented people, but also to hear back from those perspective communities in virginia and north carolina, georgia, texas, louisiana, and to create a greater network of people who are allies to our cause and even maybe even post comprehensive reform we would have -- >> what kind of pushback did you get? >> pushback, definitely a lot of times it was difficult, you know, having to share our stories over and over again. and, you know, the anti-immigrant people, you know, sort of giving us the benefit of the doubt, and -- but we kept

pushing and we -- we finished our trip very safely and we've -- were able to create a network and get to know some communities and share awareness. >> kamall is there a tendency for all undocumented immigrants to get piled into one lump? >> yeah, the immigrant conversation now, it's great to have a conversation about immigration reform, but the focus is the person who is undocumented, which traditionally a mexican issue. we saw in the senate bill, the disversety lotto was vetoes. [ technical difficulties ] you know, the family system

[ technical difficulties ] >> 40% of the undocumented people were here legally to begin with. they were here on visas that expired. once that happens how hard is it to get back on track? >> almost impossible. people think, and even some of my professional colleagues just think the green card is something you can pick up in the post office. but there are very few exceptions once you fall out of the status it is impossible to get back on status. >> here is angel rodriguez. >> i do, however, feel that the people that have done this the right way, people that are waiting, people that are bringing family over, people that followed the rules, those

should not be bumped to the back of any line, in order to benefit someone who broke the rules. yes, we can defer action. do not deport people who are here working hard, doing the right things, but they have to wait their turn. >> i'm going to go to you alden with that. there are a lot of folks who are sympathetic to these narratives. why should we bend or break the system to help those who are not following the law? what is your response to that? waiting for alden. all right. tina, i'll go to you. what is your response to that? >> i do believe that laws should be kept and people should follow them, but laws don't always work the way they are designed to. my dad tried to follow all of the right rules, and during the time his visa was denied he

decided to go back, but in that time he would have to sell his car. he was renting a place. and sell back all of his stuff he invested in. but during that time he didn't have the amount of time that you need to do all of those things, and according to the rules and regulations, if he left the country he wouldn't be allowed back for another ten years, and there was possibility he might be able to be allowed back, but there was no certainties. so the laws in place aren't working for the majority of people and we should re fine those laws and make them so the people that are being to be part of this community and work, and can be american not just by name but by papers as well. >> kamall we here this a lot, get in line. are there traditional channels opened to people like tina and alden and kevin?

>> well the rules just don't make sense. there are rules of immigration law. but the rules simply don't make sense. to be united with family member sometimes can make 20 years. there is a certain value to playing by the rules, to waiting your turn in line, but when you have to be disconnected from a family member for two decades, that's what you have to weigh when you talk about following the rules, and a lot of these -- you know, lines that -- that are talked about -- i mean some of them are -- are really long to be hon sponsored by an employer, sometimes you have to wait in line for five years, is there going to be a job waiting for you after five years? so i think folks want to uphold the rule of law, but we have to keep that in the context of the

rules themselves don't make any sense. >> alden a lot of people are opposed to amnesty and they say it is because of an undertone of entitlement. do you feel in entitled to be in the u.s.? >> i do. because my mother was asked to come to this country, she was asked to do a service and she has done that for 12 years. the reason i'm undocumented is because of this long line that my mother waited in. i was in school and had two more classes before i graduated. and my dream was to become american and make this country a better place, and because of the broken immigration system, it is making it difficult for me to realize my dreams.

>> kevin i'm going to go to you. talk to me about family estrangement. even if these reforms take place, they will still be cut off from their moms their brothers, their fathers. >> the senate immigration rule does not include immigration for children or married children over 31, and what makes a lot of our [ inaudible ] community grow is through these family petitions and immigrants tend to pool our resources together, start small businesses, which is the backbone of our economy, and it's very unfortunate to see this family-based system be cut

off, you know, for -- you know, so many people. >> yeah. look we're going to pause for a moment, you all stepped into the immigration debate. the question is where do grow from here. we'll talk about that next. but before we go to break check out a few of the hashtags we're following.

i'm leona morgan, i'm a community advocate working to protect our water from uranium mining and i'm in "the stream." >> welcome back. we're talking about the immigration system. >> yeah, the community is also talk about the constant shaming that happens.

>> tina talk a little bit about that, about the stigmata that exists within these communities. >> yeah, people don't feel comfortable with diverse backgrounds coming out, because there is nobody to set an example. it's something that people are ashamed by. i mean i was guilty throughout high school i just sort of kept it to myself, and when i came out, most people didn't understand or didn't believe me, and then it makes it difficult for -- for me to be a part of a community where i'm looked at in -- in a different manner. when i was organizing i would hear all types of stories, but the narrative out there was just the hispanic narrative, and i knew for that narrative to

change, people of diversion backgrounds just like kevin alden would have to come out and share their stories, and after that precedent being set by the hispanic community and join forces and say we may be of different backgrounds, but we're all americans, and we need to fix the system for all of us. >> alden what is the next step? >> so i believe we have to lead by example. this is why i started the international youth association. we have to come out and let people know we are proud of where we came from, and we are happy with where we are right now. it's a shame in our community -- especially in the caribbean community. we have a parade today that everyone was excited to show

where they were from, but every other day of the year we are ashamed of where we come from. so it we need to make it as inclusive to as much people as possible. >> here are some suggestions . . . kamall what are your thoughts of that? >> i think germans have done a great job of that over the last few years, and that's why we got the daca program in 2012. it didn't happen because the president felt like created the program one day. it was because he was pressured by months and months and months of dreamers telling their

stories and making it known that they are here and they are not going anywhere. >> kevin we have about 30 seconds left? are you hopeful? >> i'm always hopeful for, you know, our community, and so many -- 11 million undocumented people. we are here to contribute, and i'm currently an immigrant rights activist, and we workday and night, the dream riders campaign, and we have a dream podcast, and i hope that more -- >> i'm going to have to pause you there, kevin because we're out of time. but thank you to you all for taking part in this conversation and sharing your stories. until next time, waj and i will see you online. ♪

♪ good evening, everyone. welcome to al jazeera. i'm john siegenthaler in new york. [ gunfire ] >> after more gunfire at the mall, kenyan authorities search for the killers. we look at what is being done to prevent a similar attack on u.s. soil. plus the un general assembly gathers. big speeches expected tomorrow from president obama and the iranian president. ♪ the standoff continues together at