Kevin Appleby, of the U.S. Catholic Conference of Bishops; Jessica Guitierrez,

of the Jobs and Affordabe Housing Coalition of Minneapolis, MN; and Guadalupe

Magdaleno, of Sunflower Community Action in Wichita, KS, particpate in the

Immigrant Rights Workshop at NPA's Annual Conference.

Just before he pledged his support of the Development, Relief, and Education for Alien Minors (DREAM) Act at the Immigrant Rights Workshop, Kevin Appleby of the U.S. Catholic Conference of Bishops exclaimed "Immigrants don’t break the law, the laws break them!”

The DREAM Act would allow undocumented students who have lived in this country for at least five years pay in-state tuition to attend college.

Appleby agreed to arrange a meeting between NPA and the Bishops at the workshop, which featured passionate and powerful testimonies from a diverse leadership team - fighting together for immigrant rights.

Also invited to the NPA workshop was Karl Rove, President Bush’s trusted political strategist. Despite several invitations to attend a meeting with NPA, Rove refused to meet with NPA and was unwilling to send a representative on his behalf. NPA decided to take the message directly to Rove.

Leaders went to Rove’s home on Sunday afternoon to ask for his help improving their neighborhoods by asking him to support the DREAM Act. The action culminated with NPA singing ‘America the Beautiful’ to Rove.

The DREAM Act has been stalled in Congress, and the Whites House’s approval would move the bill forward. The White House has not publicly stated support for the Act. It was voted out of committee earlier in the year and is awaiting a full Senate floor vote. The DREAM Act has 46 co-sponsors, 12 of which are Republicans.

“We were left no choice,” said Emira Palacios, NPA Co-Chair. “When Mr. Rove refused to meet with us, we had to get answers. We have been working to make the dreams of our children come true for too long. We need the White House to give the okay to put the DREAM Act to a full Senate floor vote."

For many leaders this action was a golden opportunity to penetrate a power structure that has been impossible to reach. It was an extremely powerful moment in NPA history.

Until NPA visited Rove, the DREAM Act was stuck. Now, the issue is taking center stage with over a dozen mainstream media sources taking a closer look at this crucial legislation and more legislators are signing on to support it.  The fight continues at the local level.

NPA also delivered over 2,000 postcards to Sen. Bill Frist (R-TN), Senate Majority Leader, encouraging him to bring the DREAM Act to the Senate floor for a vote.