United We Dream Action (UWDA) is the lobbying affiliate of the United We Dream Network, an advocacy group for liberal expansionist immigration policies. It attempts to change legislation and public opinion through rallies, protests, and political endorsements. UWDA aligns with other left-of-center groups and has called for Democrats to ignore laws and rules to pursue an expansionist immigration agenda. Its leaders have claimed those who oppose them white supremacists.

History and Policies

United We Dream Action is the lobbying, advocacy, and electoral affiliate of the parent United We Dream Network (UWD). ¹ United We Dream Network claims to be the largest immigrant youth-led organization in the country claiming to have over 720,000 members in over 100 local chapters in 28 states. ^{2 3} United We Dream claims that more than 60 percent of its members are women and 20 percent identify as LGBT. ⁴

UWDA holds rallies, protests, candidate endorsements, and other campaigns to promote citizenship for illegal immigrants. ⁵ In 2021, UWDA called on Senate Democrats to ignore a ruling by the U.S. Senate Parliamentarian to include citizenship for illegal immigrants in the Biden administration’s Build Back Better “reconciliation” legislation. ⁶ Tactics used to pressure passage of the immigration legislation included protests and arrests outside the Hart Senate Office Building and the home of Senate Majority Leader Charles Schumer (D-NY). ⁷ Along with left-of-center and left-wing organizations including the Immigrant Action Alliance, the Southern Poverty Law Center, the Florida Immigrant Coalition, and the Family Action Network Movement, UWDA held a protest outside the Miami, Florida office of U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) demanding the immediate release of all illegal immigrant detainees. ⁸

UWDA has called for President Joe Biden (D) to unilaterally enact citizenship for illegal immigrants. ⁹ In December 2021, UWDA’s executive director and co-founder wrote an op-ed in The Nation stating Joe Biden is “failing us” and Biden and Democrats are “failing to fall through on campaign promises.” ¹⁰

Endorsements

United We Dream Action has worked with numerous left-wing groups to create a process to endorse presidential candidates. ¹¹ Coalition members include MoveOn.org, the Sunrise Movement, CPD Action, Bend the Arc Jewish Action PAC, Working Families Party, and Women’s March Network. ¹²

In the 2020 presidential election, UWDA endorsed both Sens. Bernie Sanders (I-VT) and Elizabeth Warren (D-MA) for president. ¹³ Other notable UWDA endorsements for the U.S. House of Representatives in 2020 included Reps. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-NY), Ilhan Omar (D-MN), Rashida Tlaib (D-MI), and Ayanna Pressley (D-MA). ¹⁴

Finances

According to United We Dream Action’s 2018 tax returns, the group had $2,013,727 in revenue and $2,055,774 in expenses. ¹⁵ The previous year, UWDA had $1,493,403 in revenue and $1,152,935 in expenses. ¹⁶

Leadership

Greisa Martinez Rosas is executive director of United We Dream Action and UWD. Originally from Mexico, she arrived in the United States illegally as a child. ¹⁷ Prior to being named executive director of UWD in August 2020, ¹⁸ Martinez Rosas began at UWD in 2012 as civic engagement field manager and went on to work as national field coordinator, advocacy and policy director, and deputy executive director before assuming her current role. ¹⁹ Previously, she worked as affiliate leader of the Council For Minority Student Affairs. ²⁰ In 2018, Martinez Rosas called then-President Donald Trump’s proposal for a border wall “a white supremacist ransom note.” ²¹ In 2022, Martinez Rosas called the events at the U.S. Capitol in January 2021 an attempted coup by white supremacists. ²²

Cristina Jimenez Moreta was a co-founder of United We Dream, where she worked as executive director from 2008 until 2020. ²³ Previously, Moreta worked as a policy analyst at the left-of-center Drum Major Institute for Public Policy. ²⁴ Moreta was a co-founder of the New York State Youth Leadership Council and a community organizer for Make the Road New York. ²⁵ Moreta came to the United States illegally from Ecuador at age 13 ²⁶ and was previously a MacArthur Foundation fellow. ²⁷

1. United We Dream Action. Accessed January 19, 2022. https://unitedwedreamaction.org/about/.
2. Culture Change Coordinator.” United We Dream. Accessed July 30, 2021. https://unitedwedream.org/about/careers/.
3. “About.” United We Dream. Accessed January 19, 2022. https://unitedwedream.org/about/.
4. “About.” United We Dream. Accessed January 19, 2022. https://unitedwedream.org/about/.
5. United We Dream Action. Accessed January 19, 2022. https://unitedwedreamaction.org/about/.
6. “Our Message to Schumer and Senate Democrats: Disregard the Parliamentarian and Deliver Citizenship for Millions.” United We Dream Action. December 16, 2021. Accessed January 19, 2022. https://unitedwedreamaction.org/2021/12/our-message-to-schumer-and-senate-democrats-disregard-the-parliamentarian-and-deliver-citizenship-for-millions/.
7. We’re Fighting for Our Lives.” United We Dream Action. December 2, 2021. Accessed January 20, 2022. https://unitedwedreamaction.org/2021/12/were-fighting-for-our-lives-11-members-of-united-we-dream-action-arrested-in-d-c-while-demanding-senate-democrats-deliver-citizenship/; “Immigrant Youth and Allies Rallied Outside Leader Schumer’s Home Demanding He Deliver Citizenship for Millions through Reconciliation.” United We Dream Action. October 14, 2021. Accessed January 20, 2022. https://unitedwedreamaction.org/2021/10/immigrant-youth-and-allies-rallied-outside-leader-schumers-home-demanding-he-deliver-citizenship-for-millions-through-reconciliation/.
8. “Immigrant Youth Rallied Outside the Florida ICE Office to Demand All Immigrants Be Released From Detention Now!” United We Dream. April 19, 2021. Accessed July 31, 2021. https://unitedwedream.org/2021/04/immigrant-youth-rallied-outside-the-florida-ice-office-to-demand-all-immigrants-be-released-from-detention-now/.
9. Bixby, Scott and Asawin Suebsaeng. “Biden Keeps Trump Immigration Policies – and Stephen Miller is Loving It.” The Daily Beast. January 21, 2022. Accessed January 30, 2022. https://www.thedailybeast.com/joe-biden-keeps-trump-immigration-policies-and-stephen-miller-is-loving-it.
10. Prakash, Varsini, and Greisa Martinez Rosas. “We Mobilized Young People to Support Biden. He’s Failing Us.” The Nation. December 22, 2021. Accessed January 20, 2022. https://www.thenation.com/article/politics/sunrise-united-we-dream-bbb/.
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14. “Endorsements.” United We Dream Action. Accessed January 19, 2022. https://unitedwedreamaction.org/united-we-dream-action-endorses-elizabeth-warren-bernie-sanders-for-president/.
15. United We Dream Action, Return of an Organization Exempt From Income Tax (Form 990O), 2018.
16. ^[1] United We Dream Action, Return of an Organization Exempt From Income Tax (Form 990O), 2017.
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19. “United We Dream and United We Dream Action Announce Greisa Martinez Rosas as Executive Director.” United We Dream. August 5, 2020. Accessed January 19, 2022. https://unitedwedream.org/2020/08/united-we-dream-and-united-we-dream-action-announce-greisa-martinez-rosas-as-executive-director/.
20. “United We Dream and United We Dream Action Announce Greisa Martinez Rosas as Executive Director.” United We Dream. August 5, 2020. Accessed January 19, 2022. https://unitedwedream.org/2020/08/united-we-dream-and-united-we-dream-action-announce-greisa-martinez-rosas-as-executive-director/.
21. “Immigrant Youth to Trump’s White Supremacist Proposal: ‘No.’” United We Dream. January 25, 2018. Accessed January 19, 2022. https://unitedwedream.org/2018/01/immigrant-youth-trumps-white-supremacist-proposal-no/.
22. “Jan. 6 Attempted Coup was a White Supremacist-Led Attack on our Democracy and the Growing Power of Black and Brown People.” United We Dream Action. January 6, 2022. Accessed January 19, 2022. https://unitedwedreamaction.org/2022/01/jan-6-attempted-coup-was-a-white-supremacist-led-attack-on-our-democracy-and-the-growing-power-of-black-and-brown-people/.
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26. Fadulu, Lola. “I Knew I Couldn’t Work Because Of My Status.” The Atlantic. April 4, 2018. Accessed January 19, 2022. https://www.theatlantic.com/business/archive/2018/04/i-knew-i-couldnt-work-because-of-my-status/557057/.
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