EVERY year, many undocumented students face a roadblock to their dreams of building a future in this country.They can’t drive, can’t work legally, can’t further their education and pretty much can’t do anything after school – just because they were brought to this country illegally by their parents or lost legal status along the way.
This classic case of lost potential and broken dreams encapsulates many facets of today’s immigration crisis. Smart, hardworking kids are faced with an uncertain future and are caught in a system where there is little, if any, means to legalizing their status.
The Federal DREAM Act (Development, Relief, and Education for Alien Minors Act), previously introduced as S. 729 / HR 1751, is a bipartisan legislation that would allow these students conditional legal status and eventual citizenship granted that they meet all requirements – if they were brought to the US before 16 years old, are below 35 years old, have lived in the US continuously for five years, graduated from a US high school or obtained a GED, have good moral character with no criminal record and attend college or enlist in the military. First introduced in the US Senate in 2001 and re-introduced in Congress in 2009, the DREAM Act has, so far, been unsuccessful in getting support.
Last September, the DREAM Act, along with a repeal of Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell, was incorporated into the National Defense Authorization Act for the Fiscal Year 2011. But this, too, was shot down by Republicans in Congress who said the DREAM Act is unrelated to the Defense bill. It is currently a topic of debate in the Congress lame-duck session.
In a telephone press conference from the White House last December 2, Department of Homeland Security (DHS) Secretary Janet Napolitano re-emphasized their support for the DREAM Act. Napolitano also explained that the proposed law is expected to help improve immigration enforcement in the country.
Punishing children for the transgressions of their parents will not solve the country’s immigration problems. In fact, many feel that the US is in need of highly-skilled workers and entrepreneurs, as well as vital tax revenues and other economic contributions. It would also free some of the backlog that currently plagues the legal immigration system.
However, the DREAM Act in its latest form, does not grant in-state tuition or federal financial aid to any student, so this is not a “free pass” to get into college.
Yet, there is no other pathway to legalize status for these undocumented students. The DREAM Act is their sole source of hope in achieving the American dream.
(www.asianjournal.com)
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