Walter Lara is an honor student who has lived in the U.S. since his parents brought him here from Argentina when he was just 3 years old. Almost 20 years later, Walter is set to be deported this July 4th weekend.

On February 17, 2009, Walter was with his boss (a DirectTV contractor) about to get on a ferry that would take him to Fisher Island so they could work on some installations. In ten minutes, Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) authorities surrounded the vehicle and bombarded Walter with questions which he innocently responded to.

This is Walter's story --

UPDATE, 7/1/09 5:00 p.m.: Voice mail boxes at DHS are full, thanks to more than 500 calls that poured in to Sec. Napolitano today. The campaign will resume tomorrow DHS reopens at 9:00 a.m.

1. Join the Facebook page as an act of solidarity and to find out specifics of Walter's case.

2. Co-Sign senator Bill Nelson's letter to DHS: http://action.seiu.org/page/s/nelsonletterblog. The letter will be delivered to Homeland Security tomorrow -- so please sign it now.

3. Follow Walter on Twitter

Note: Athena Jones is an home care worker and Grassroots Lobbyist through SEIU's Change That Works campaign.

Students file in wearing colors mixed like an unsolved Rubik's cube--some wearing chords representing achievement and honors. Friends straighten each other's caps. The rainbow of the march is accompanied by a violin and the pomp and circumstances of cameras flashing. As smiles of achievement shine, each student's hard work and the pride of a family is represented with a cap and gown.

You would not notice or look twice at the needs of these high achievers. Each representing the overtaking of a struggle, brandished with the hopes of the Dream.

Onlookers could never have imagined Tuesday's commencement speech to be anything more than a student talking about bridging gaps to adulthood or hoping for the 10 year reunion. As she began to speak - I'll call her Anna - Anna spoke of her graduating from high school with honors and successfully completing college with a double major in biology and psychology. Her parents spoke to her of the hope, of education and the Dream of what America could be. She was the product of undocumented parents. They brought her here under the cover of a better future when she was eight, and she too was undocumented. Anna began to tell of the hurt she felt towards the only country she knew and the many opportunities lost because she does not have a 9 digit number assigned to her name.

Anna is a high achieving, college-educated student with honors. The U.S. government saw her as an illegal immigrant worthy of nothing better than being deported. Her undocumented status shadowed her amazing credentials. I imagine she never knew, regardless of her academic success, her ultimate diploma would be a letter of deportation.