PICC is joining Nationalities Service Center and the Eastern Pennsylvania Chapter of the Methodist Federation for Social Action to co-sponsor two public screenings of the film Papers, a documentary that tells the story of undocumented youth and the challenges they face as they turn 18.  The screenings will be followed by a discussion.

Date: Thursday, February 25
Time: 5:30pm
Location: Arch Street United Methodist Church, Broad and Arch Streets.

Date: Saturday, February 27
Time: 5:30pm
Location: Chestnut Hill United Methodist Church, 8812 Germantown Avenue

$5.00 at the door. Light refreshments will be served.

The flaws in our current immigration system can be especially hard on young people. Every year in Pennsylvania, approximately 850 undocumented students graduate from high school only to realize that their diplomas do not ensure access to higher education.  Nationally, 65,000 undocumented students graduate every year from high school without “papers” and the door to their future slams shut.

There are approximately 2 million undocumented children who were born outside the U.S. and raised in this country. These are young people who were educated in American schools, hold American values, know only the U.S. as home and yet risk deportation to countries they may not even remember.

The DREAM Act could provide a path to legal status and college for these students.