<p>In a Democracy Now! exclusive, producer Renée Feltz speaks with Viridiana Martinez, a <span class="caps">DREAM</span> activist detained about a week ago who is being held in the Broward Transitional Center in Pompano Beach, Florida. <strong><a href="http://traffic.libsyn.com/democracynow/Viridriana_Martinez.mp3">Click here to listen.</a></strong></p>
<p>Martinez is one of a group of undocumented immigrant activists with the <a href="http://action.dreamactivist.org/btc/">National Immigrant Youth Alliance</a> who have infiltrated the Broward Transitional Center and found dozens of immigrants there who should be released under the Obama administration’s policies. The group said they <a href="http://action.dreamactivist.org/broward/">found more than 60 detainees</a> with no criminal record or prior deportations, some of whom were detained as passengers in vehicles. They also found detainees in need of immediate medical care. Despite an executive action announced by President Obama last month to stop deportations of many undocumented youth, the group said they found more than a dozen young detainees who would qualify for the <span class="caps">DREAM</span> Act, a legislative proposal granting residency to certain youth who entered the country as minors. Obama administration officials had promised to comb through backlogged cases to close those involving immigrants with no criminal records and strong family ties, but it was <a href="http://trac.syr.edu/whatsnew/email.120723.html">reported in July</a> fewer than 2 percent of deportation cases have been closed under the review.</p>