The Making of a Dream: How a Group of Young Undocumented Immigrants Helped Change what it means to be American by Laura Wides-Muñoz covers a group of people that had illegally immigrated to the United States and their political activism to become regularized.

MAIN CHARACTERS

HARETH ANDRADE-AYALA, came to the United States from Bolivia at age eight in 2001.
BETTY AYALA, Hareth’s mother.
MARIO ANDRADE, Hareth’s father, husband of Betty Ayala.
ELIANA ANDRADE, Hareth’s aunt and Mario Andrade’s sister.”

“HAZIEL ANDRADE-AYALA, Mario and Betty’s second daughter, came to United States with Hareth at three.
CLAUDIA ANDRADE-AYALA, Mario and Betty’s youngest daughter, the only one born in the United States.

DARIO GUERRERO MENESES, came to the United States from Mexico with his parents at age two in 1995.
DARIO GUERRERO SR., Dario’s father.
ROCIO MENESES, Dario’s mother and wife of Dario Guerrero Sr.
FERNANDO GUERRERO MENESES, Dario’s younger brother, born in the United States.
ANDREA GUERRERO MENESES, Dario’s younger sister, born in the United States and the baby of the family.
ALEX C. BOOTA, Dario’s freshman roommate.
FELIPE SOUSA-RODRIGUEZ (FELIPE MATOS SOUSA), came to the United States from Brazil at age fourteen in 2001.
ISABEL SOUSA-RODRIGUEZ, Felipe’s spouse, came to the United States from Colombia at age six.
FRANCISCA SOUSA MATOS, Felipe’s mother.
CAROLINA SOUSA, Felipe’s older sister.*
JUAN RODRIGUEZ SR., Isabel’s father.

MARIE (GONZALEZ) DEEL, came to the United States from Costa Rica at age five with her parents in 1991.
MARINA MORALES MORENO, Marie’s mother.
MARVIN GONZALEZ, Marie’s father, married to Marina Morales Moreno.
CHAPIN DEEL, Marie’s husband.
ARACELI DEEL, Marie’s first daughter.
LORENA DEEL, Marie’s youngest daughter.

“ALEX” ALDANA, came to the[…] United States from Mexico with his family at age sixteen in 2003.
LAURA MORALES, Alex’s mother.
CARLOS ALDANA, Alex’s older brother.

YOUNG IMMIGRANT LEADERS

MOHAMMAD ABDOLLAHI, early member of United We Dream, split off to found the National Immigrant Youth Alliance, also with Dream Activist.

ERIKA ANDIOLA, Our Revolution political director, worked on Senator Bernie Sanders’s presidential campaign and for United We Dream, Arizona activist.

WALTER BARRIENTOS, lead organizer at Make the Road New York and political director for MTRNY Action Fund, early United We Dream leader.”

“JULIETA GARIBAY, founding member and United We Dream Texas director.

JU HONG, former Los Angeles–based leader of the National Asian American and Pacific Islander DACA Collaborative.

GREISA MARTINEZ, advocacy director for United We Dream, based in Washington, DC.

CRISTINA JIMÉNEZ MORETA, cofounder, executive director of United We Dream.

MARIA GABRIELA “GABY” PACHECO, program director at thedream .us, former political director for United We Dream. She walked the “Trail of Dreams” from Miami to Washington with Felipe, based in Miami.

CARLOS A. ROA JR., immigrant youth activist turned aspiring Chicago architect, also walked the “Trail of Dreams.”

CARLOS SAAVEDRA, cofounder of United We Dream, Boston activist, went on to work at the immigrant rights group Movimiento Cosecha.

ASTRID SILVA, cofounder of Nevada-based immigrant advocacy group DREAM Big Vegas, spoke in prime time at Democratic National Convention in 2016.

TANIA UNZUETA, legal and policy director for Mijente, Chicago-based early immigrant youth leader.”

ORGANIZATIONS

AMERICAN FEDERATION OF LABOR AND CONGRESS OF INDUSTRIAL ORGANIZATIONS, AFL-CIO, nation’s largest labor union, with more than 12 million members.
AMERICANS FOR IMMIGRANT JUSTICE (FLORIDA IMMIGRANT ADVOCACY CENTER, FIAC), immigrant advocacy, litigation, and legal service organization.
AMERICA’S VOICE, unofficial communications arm of the immigrant rights and reform movement.
CENTER FOR COMMUNITY CHANGE, CCC, founded in 1968 to carry on the legacy of Robert F. Kennedy and to develop community organization and change.
COALITION FOR HUMANE IMMIGRANT RIGHTS, CHIRLA, California-based immigrant advocacy group.
DREAMACTIVIST, originally an online site to connect immigrant youth, later served as a springboard for anti-deportation and other activist campaigns.
FLORIDA IMMIGRANT COALITION, FLIC, statewide alliance of more than sixty-five immigrant advocacy groups, created by Florida Immigrant Advocacy Center.
MAKE THE ROAD NEW YORK, seeks to strengthen Latino and working-class communities through organizing and policy innovation, education, and survival services.
MIJENTE, a national “Latinx” and “Chicanx” civil rights group founded in 2015 that focuses on issues facing low-income communities, including, but not limited to, immigration.
MINUTEMAN PROJECT, founded in 2004, sought to independently monitor the border in response to what it viewed as lack of action by the Department of[…] Homeland Security.

MOVIEMIENTO COSECHA, decentralized immigrant rights group founded in 2015, focused on peaceful, “non-cooperation” techniques like work-stoppages to highlight national reliance on immigrant labor.

NATIONAL IMMIGRATION FORUM, national immigration policy group that in recent years has focused on reaching out to business, law enforcement, and religious groups.

NATIONAL IMMIGRATION LAW CENTER, NILC, defends the rights of immigrants with low incomes.

NATIONAL YOUTH IMMIGRANT ALLIANCE, NIYA, immigrant youth-led organization that splintered off from United We Dream and reached its peak in 2012–2013 with mass actions at the border.

SERVICE EMPLOYEES INTERNATIONAL UNION, SEIU, represents some 2 million service workers.

STUDENTS WORKING FOR EQUAL RIGHTS, SWER, Florida immigrant youth-led social justice group supported by FLIC.

UNIDOSUS (NATIONAL COUNCIL OF LA RAZA, NCLR), one of the largest Latino advocacy groups in the United States.

UNITED WE DREAM, UWD, largest immigrant youth-led network in the nation, with affiliates in twenty-six states.

ADVOCATES

JOSH BERNSTEIN, attorney for SEIU, formerly NILC.

DEEPAK BHARGAVA, head of the CCC.

IRA KURZBAN, Miami immigration attorney, authored one of the nation’s top immigration law sourcebooks.

CHERYL LITTLE, founded Americans for Immigrant Justice, formerly FIAC.

JOSE LUIS MARANTES, worked at FLIC, the CCC, and UWD, early mentor to Felipe.
CECILIA MUÑOZ, NCLR policy advocate, later served as adviser to former president Barack Obama.

ALI NOORANI, head of the National Immigration Forum.

ESTHER OLAVARRIA, worked at FIAC, later served as legislative aide to Senator Ted Kennedy and as policy adviser for DHS.

MARIA RODRIGUEZ, head of FLIC.

ANGELICA SALAS, head of CHIRLA.

FRANK SHARRY, head of America’s Voice, previously led the National Immigration Forum.”

KEY LAWMAKERS

Senate
RICHARD “DICK” DURBIN, D-Illinois
WILLIAM “BILL” FRIST, R-Tennessee (Senate Majority Leader, 2003–2007)
LINDSEY GRAHAM, R-South Carolina
ORRIN HATCH, R-Utah
EDWARD “TED” KENNEDY, D-Massachusetts
JOHN McCAIN, R-Arizona
HARRY REID, D-Nevada, (Senate Majority Leader, 2007–2015)
JEFF SESSIONS, R-Alabama (current Attorney General of the United States)

House
HOWARD BERMAN, D-California
JOHN BOEHNER, R-Ohio (Speaker of the House, 2011–2015)
CHRIS CANNON, R-Utah
LINCOLN DÍAZ-BALART, R-Florida
MARIO DÍAZ-BALART, R-Florida, younger brother of Lincoln
LUIS GUTIÉRREZ, D-Illinois
JAMES “JIM” KOLBE, R-Arizona
NANCY PELOSI, D-California (Speaker of the House, 2007–2011)
ILEANA ROS-LEHTINEN, R-Florida