NPR

The Original DREAMer Recalls 'All Pervasive' Fear As An Undocumented Child

The DREAM Act all started with Tereza Lee. As Congress prepares to vote on immigration this week, she discusses her journey as an undocumented child and her views on the current moment.
Tereza Lee is the original "Dreamer" whose case inspired the first attempt in 2001 to protect undocumented immigrants brought to the United States as minors.

Tereza Lee is a music teacher and a concert pianist who is pursuing a Ph.D. at the Manhattan School of Music.

But Lee, who was born in Brazil to parents who fled South Korea in the wake of the Korean War, is also known for something else: she's the original inspiration behind the DREAM Act, the legislative effort to provide legal status to undocumented children.

While news of families separated at the border hit the high notes of a long-standing debate about

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