Forbes - USA (2019-12-31)

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THE DREAM TEAM

DECEMBER 31, 20 19

week aft er taking

shots at President

Trump’s immigration

policies on Jimmy

Fallon’s Tonight Show

last January, Grammy-nominated

rapper She’yaa “21 Savage” Bin

Abraham-Joseph was detained for

ten days by U.S. Immigration &

Customs Enforcement. Born in the

U.K., Abraham-Joseph moved to

Atlanta at age 7 with his family and

had overstayed his original visa by

many years. “He’s a gangster,” the

27-year-old performer said of the

president in an October interview

with Forbes. “He don’t give a damn.”

21 Savage, a member of the 2019

Forbes Under 30, is a “Dreamer”—one

of an estimated 3.6 million people

living in the U.S. after having arrived

undocumented as a youth. Among

them are nearly 800,000 who, by

meeting any of a number of crite-

ria (military service, a high-school

diploma, no criminal record and more),

were approved for President Obama’s

Deferred Action for Childhood Arriv-

als program (DACA)—an initiative

that Trump, who recently called some

Dreamers “no longer very young” and

“very tough, hardened criminals,” wants

to shut down. The Supreme Court

will likely decide their fate next year.

“Despite the fact that so many

people want to see us fail, we are

thriving,” says Sarahi Espinoza

Salamanca, 30, a Dreamer from

the Forbes Under 30 class of 2016.

“We are becoming doctors, teachers,

lawyers, engineers, entrepreneurs

and so many other amazing things.”

Including hip-hop stars. For sure,

21 Savage has it better than most of

his cohort. His average nightly concert

gross was about $50,000 around the

time of his detention; it has doubled

since, as he has become a cause célèbre.

“I’m an example,” 21 Savage says.

“People who didn’t think it aff ected

certain people can say, ‘Wow, it aff ected

him. Who would’ve ever thought that?’ ”

Shown at right are a handful of

Forbes Under 30 alumni who grew

up undocumented—and what they’re

doing to elevate Dreamers nationwide.

UNDER 30

CLASS OF 2019

VANESSA LUNA

COFOUNDER, IMMSCHOOLS

This Teach for America veteran’s

startup, which currently operates

in Texas and New York, has

trained nearly 2,000 educators

to help support 60,000 undoc-

umented students in those two

immigrant-heavy states.

FORBES.COM

Michael Milken

Founder of the Milken

Institute; Forbes 400 member

Book Value

Leaders from the worlds

of business, academia,

entertainment and

politics share what’s on

their bedside table.

FACTFULNESS:

TEN REASONS WE’RE WRONG ABOUT

THE WORLD—AND WHY THINGS ARE

BETTER THAN YOU THINK

by Hans Rosling

Feeling down about reports of

terrorism, disease outbreaks,

armed confl icts or natural di-

sasters? Take a break from the

news to read Factfulness: Ten

Reasons We’re Wrong About

the World—and Why Things Are

Bett er Than You Think (Flatiron

Books, 2018), by the late Swed-

ish physician Hans Rosling,

who wrote the book aft er

being diagnosed with terminal

pancreatic cancer in 2016. Fa-

mous for his TED talks, Rosling

distills insights from his work in

global health and regional de-

velopment into a celebration

of “the secret silent miracle of

human progress.” He refuses

to divide the world into devel-

oped and developing nations.

Instead, he describes four

more-nuanced income strata,

each continuously advancing.

According to Rosling, we fail to

see these positive trends be-

cause of human instincts that

blind us. His conclusion: Deploy

facts, not fear. “When we have

a fact-based worldview we can

see that the world is not as bad

as it seems—and we can see

what we have to do to keep

making it bett er.”

CLASS OF 2017

DENISSE ROJAS MARQUEZ AND

JIRAYUT “NEW” LATTHIVONGSKORN

COFOUNDERS, PRE-HEALTH DREAMERS

The duo’s organization pairs undocumented students with

jobs in a variety of medical professions. Latt hivongskorn,

originally from Thailand, is one of six plaintiff s in the DACA

suit currently before the Supreme Court.

CLASS OF 2018

REYNA MONTOYA

FOUNDER AND CEO, ALIENTO

A founding member of Teach

for America’s DACA Advisory

Board, Montoya created

Phoenix-based Aliento (Spanish

for “breath”) to support Dreamers

via extracurricular educational

workshops and arts programs.

CLASS OF 2016

SARAHI ESPINOZA

SALAMANCA

FOUNDER AND CEO,

DREAMERS ROADMAP

The app she created helps

undocumented students

with admissions, scholarships

and fi nancial aid. It has been

downloaded nearly 40,000

times since its release in 2016.

CLASS OF 2015

MARIA GABRIELA

PACHECO

DIRECTOR OF ADVOCACY,

DEVELOPMENT AND

COMMUNICATION,

THEDREAM.US

In 2013, Pacheco became the

fi rst undocumented Latina

to testify before Congress,

discussing U.S. immigration

policy. She now helps run the largest college-access

organization for undocumented youth.

A