The DREAM Act

Of the three million students who graduate from high schools in the United States every year, approximately sixty five thousand of them are termed illegal immigrants. Although they have lived in the United States for most of their lives and know no other way of life other than they live in America. However, because they are labeled illegal immigrants - which is not their fault because they did not choose to come to come to America on their own – they have very little opportunity to test their dreams and prosper in this great nation. Instead, they have become the victims of government deportation due to their illegal immigrant status in the United States and have found themselves in very different environments from what they know, not able to fit in the culture, and not knowing the languages of the countries in which they were born but not raised. This has been a gross injustice on the part of the American government because whichever way they got to America, these so called illegal immigrants are still American through culture, language, and thought, and should be recognized as such.

The Development, Relief, and Education for Alien Minors (DREAM) Act is a bipartisan legislation that was pioneered by the Republican senator Orin Hatch and Democrat senator Richard Durbin, with the intention of solving this injustice in the American society. Under its provisions, qualifying undocumented youth would be eligible for a six year long process which would require them to complete a college degree or to serve at least two years in the military, and would eventually lead to their gaining American citizenship. This piece of legislation has come up twice for a vote in the senate, once in 2007 and again in 2010, but both times, it has failed to pass. In June 2012, the Obama administration issued a policy directive which would make over a million young people who were brought to the United States illegally as children free from deportation proceedings and which would make them eligible to get work permits.

The government had been under considerable pressure from various circles to take action on behalf of those young immigrants due to the fact that Congress had been deeply split about the DREAM Act legislation. Furthermore, since this is an election year, this move by the Obama administration was most likely aimed at securing the votes of Latino voters, considering that the bulk of those would have been deported if this policy had not been put in place would have been Latino. According to Welner, K and Chi, W (178) every year, these illegal immigrants graduate from high school often at the top of their classes but because of their illegal status, they are prevented from attending college and working legally. However, with the Obama administration’s change in policy, they will get the opportunity to discover their full potential as future doctors, teachers, and entrepreneurs, among other professions, who would greatly benefit the American economy.

According to the Congressional Record (1026) proponents of the DREAM Act state that it would contribute to the military’s enrollment efforts and preparedness because it would expand the recruiting group to the benefit of the American military. Furthermore, it would make America more competitive in the global economy because the young people who would be the beneficiaries of this Act would be able to live up to their fullest potential. They would also contribute a great deal to America’s efforts to have the highest number of graduates in the globe by the year 2020, which is something very important if America is to remain in the increasingly competitive international economy. Moreover, the immigration and border security experts will be able to focus on those who pose a serious threat to the security of America because this legislation provides a firm but fair way of dealing with innocent children brought to America at a young age so that the Department of Homeland Security can dedicate more of its resources to detaining and deporting criminals and those who pose a threat to America. It is further stated that this legislation would require the responsibility and the accountability of the young immigrants who are applying to change their status. These young people would have to meet several requirements such as: having entered the country when they were under the age of sixteen; they have to undergo a rigorous criminal background check; and being responsible for the fees to cover the costs of processing their applications.

The opponents of this legislation, such as Mayorga, E and Picower, B (188) claim that it will only encourage more students to immigrate illegally and that applicants would just use it to petition on behalf of their relatives who are in their home countries. This claim is not true because those involved in the process of naturalization will not be able to petition for their relatives until such a time as they have met all the requirements stated in the DREAM Act, and this is not a guarantee. The opponents of this legislation further claim that it would result in the use of taxpayer’s money being use to subsidize student loans and grants for those who are registered through the DREAM Act. This claim has also been found to be untrue because those registered under this act will not be eligible for any federal funding towards their studies.

In conclusion, I agree with the DREAM Act and all it stands for because it is one of the noblest actions taken by our politicians in modern times. It sets out to correct the injustices that have been committed against those young immigrants who were brought to the country as young children and have lived in America for most of their lives. It sets out steps through which they must go in order to attain full citizenship and in doing so, they will finally be able to call themselves Americans, for that is exactly what they are. As a world leader, the United States should lead the other countries in the world by example, and the enactment of such a just and tolerant legislation as the DREAM act would greatly boost its reputation on the world stage. Furthermore, because the United States is a country founded by immigrants from Europe and later from all over the world, it would not be appropriate to deny others, even if they come generations later, to gain the same opportunities that we have gained. We should display the same tolerance that we preach to other nations to display towards their people and not react to immigrants in the same way that we have done recently, that is, making their lives hard and deporting them. By showing this tolerance, ours would truly be the greatest nation in the world.