Right to DREAM: Immigration Reform and America’s Future

Acknowledgments

xi ACKNOWLEDGMENTS This book is my fourth. I began working on it in January 2012 and projected a six-month timeline. Like so much in life, other things intervened—new professional responsibilities, my work in Jordan, appreciating my wife and grandchildren, and dealing with the vagaries of life. Now that my work is at a close, I acknowledge those people who aided me along the way. First, I thank Bob Haslam, the director of the University of Arkansas Quality Writing Center. Bob and I started working together on the Northwest Arkansas Hispanic Community Study in 2007. The relationship between an author and his or her editor is one of trust—editors are sometimes the bearers of bad news. I gave Bob a draft of my first two chapters in January 2012, and we met a few days later for coffee. He put the copy on the table, looked up at me, and said, “Bill, I would love to take this course, but this book is not going to reach your audience— you’re writing to academics.” Bob is committed to the success of our students and a supporter of the DREAM movement, so I knew that the book had to change. I started over. Thank you, Bob, for your hard work, editing, insightful comments, counsel, and support. It has been an honor working with you these past five years. Thanks also go to Andy Albertson, a gifted writer and editor, for his comments and suggestions on the manuscript. You helped make this a better book. Closer to home, thanks go to members of our campus’s DREAM movement—Raul Torres, Rocio Aguayo, and Rafael Garcia—who helped frame this book. Special thanks go to Juan Mendez and Zessna Garcia for sharing their stories. Not to be overlooked are the nearly fifty DREAMers who shared their stories through interviews and biographies , as well as the hundreds of DREAMers who allowed me to observe their meetings and hear their stories, hopes, and dreams. I could not have written the book without them. The University of Arkansas has a remarkable leader in Chancellor G. David Gearhart. His vision of a campus that reflects the diversity of xii ACKNOWLEDGMENTS our state is shown in his commitment to the passage of the DREAM Act and comprehensive immigration reform. Without him there would not have been the growth in our campus’s diversity, the Undocumented: Living in the Shadows program in April 2012, or this book. Thank you for your support of this project and your commitment to the DREAM movement. Special thanks go to Larry Malley, director and editor of The University of Arkansas Press, and Brian King, editorial and production director, for the production of this book. I am always amazed at the amount of behind-the-scenes work involved with a book project. Writing has always been difficult for me, and I have spent years staring at the blank page. My wife, Judy, a gifted writer and a former writing teacher, has helped in my journey as a writer. I will always be her most grateful student. Voice, unity, coherence, and all of the other words of her craft now have meaning to me. I thank her for her passion for the written word and her support these past thirty years. Not every author is as fortunate as I am in having a loving and supportive wife and friend. A book is a collaborative enterprise. Peruse the notes, and find the researchers who contributed to this book. Thanks go to all of them for expanding knowledge of the immigration process, the DREAM movement , and the experiences of undocumented youth. I have tried to faithfully represent their research and stories. If I have fallen short, I alone am responsible. Right to DREAM ...