Jose Gonzalez
Jose Gonzalez of San Diego is walking across California as part of the Campaign for an American DREAM (CAD).
“I am walking California to support our walkers, who have sacrificed more than just a day for a movement to help bring a message of hope to the 2.1 million undocumented youth affected by the plight of our nation’s anti-immigrant sentiment,” Gonzalez said. “I chose to walk California because it has been my home for 25 years. Because I have a “removal proceeding” immigration hearing on March 27th, I have to return and plead my case and explain the hardship I would endure if I were deported.”
Gonzalez has lived in California for the past 25 years after being born in February 1987 in Lomas de Palanco within the city of Guadalajara, Jalisco in Mexico. He attended El Camino College for two years as a Sociology major, but was unable to transfer to a four-year university because he could not work and is parents could not afford the costs.
His fiancée graduated from University California of San Diego in 2011 and her support has enabled Gonzalez to apply to two four-year schools for Fall 2012. He became a youth minister and a lecturer at his local community church (Our Lady of Victory) in Compton, CA after completing his confirmation in 2004, chaperoning youth retreats to San Bernadino.
Gonzalez has served on the Campaign’s Media and Communications Committee for several months and recently began the American Dream Coalition on the campus of Mesa College. The Coalition promotes social inclusiveness and brings an environment of understanding, thought, and positive discussions. It seeks to bring the undocumented human experience into light and appreciate the aspirations and resiliency of each individual in striving to become a citizen.
“I hope we can look at our Campaign’s movement as a movement for human equality and understand the value of a human being and their potential,” he said. “I hope that our society is inclusive, as a whole, and accepts the change we’d like to implement in our current anti-immigrant laws and our dreams to become contributing citizens of our great country. I want the DREAM to become a reality in our entire nation, not just in California.”