Immigration aid shouldn’t be pipe dream
Congress recently had a sliver of an opportunity to drastically improve the shoddy U.S. immigration policy, which has been languishing in one form or another after decades of border fence bluster and vigilante vitriol.
But once again, politicking got in the way of reform.
Sullivan Brown | Daily Trojan
The Development, Relief and Education for Alien Minors Act (formerly titled the Unnecessarily Cutesy Acronym Act) was one of several amendments tacked on to a defense spending bill that the Senate voted on Tuesday. The bill, which also included a repeal of the controversial “don’t ask, don’t tell” policy in its sidecar, was trumped in a 56-43 vote in which every Republican (and two Democrats) sided “nay.” The defeat will hamper the Dream Act’s chances of seeing legislation until after the November midterm elections — if ever.
The act is aimed at an especially vulnerable block of illegal immigrants: children who immigrated with their parents at a young age and who have spent most of their lives in the United States. Its provisions would offer citizenship to young adults who have been in the country for more than five years, arrived before the age of 16 and have graduated from a U.S. high school, provided they commit to two years of university education or military service.
Because of the stringent guidelines, the Dream Act had the potential to be the buffer for future immigration reform; it targets those who have lived most of their lives in the United States and sidesteps the polarizing criticism of back door amnesty by enforcing a rigorous career outline on its candidates.
Most importantly, the act poses a concrete solution for the yet-unsolved problem of how to accommodate undocumented immigrants in the higher education system.
For this demographic, straddling the cultural divide is all the more tricky. Assimilation is no longer the problem — advancement is.
The Supreme Court ruled in 1982 that illegal immigrants are entitled to free education from elementary through high school — a ruling that paved the way for future reform but created a glut of educated, successful high school graduates with nowhere to take their degrees.
These estimated 65,000 high school graduates a year (according to U.S. News & World Report) are stuck in limbo, awaiting further legislation, avoiding arrest, treading water.
Both Democrats and Repub-licans can be accused of parrying politics on the defense bill; Democrats tacked two very contentious (and disparate) amendments onto a seemingly unrelated bill, and Republicans responded with a filibuster that effectively put the kibosh on the bill and all its accoutrements.
Congress buried its chance to effect real change in all its machinations, but the Dream Act isn’t defunct yet — in fact, the day after the vote, it was reintroduced by Sen. Dick Durbin (D-Ill.) If it has any chance of seeing fruition after midterms, both sides of Congress will have to stop finagling for political points.
The Dream Act won’t solve the huge, structural problems of illegal immigration in the United States, but it’s also more than a Band-Aid improvement — a border fence, an extra minute man. Its success could open the door for more improvements to the system as a whole, and more sweeping changes.
Illegal immigration is a controversial issue in the United States, but also a human one — one that we can’t simply shove out the back door.
Lucy Mueller is a senior majoring in cinema-television and is a managing editor of the Daily Trojan. Her column, “Everything is Copy,” runs Mondays.
I believe all DREAMERS should be able to go to college if they want and qualify. The American taxpayer should not pay for it with Grants, Loans or Work Study. These DREAMERS should be charged the same rate as foreign students. Perhaps La Raza, the Hispanic groups, Univision etc could form a scholarship group for them.
While the DREAMERS are studying they should learn the language of the country they came from so they can compete there. After graduation they can them return to their country of origin and work on becoming productive citizens while helping their countries become successful in the world market place.
To contribute another perspective, below is a statement drafted by a coalition of organizations which oppose the Act.
-mamartinez
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The Dream Act is a proposed piece of legislation that on the surface looks like an educational bill for the legalization of undocumented youth, but is actually a recruitment tool to fill the ranks of the military with this same youth. The Dream Act says that if a young person graduates from a U.S. high school, then s/he can get on a path towards some type of legalization if: s/he completes at least 2 years of college towards a degree or does 2 years of military service (in reality military contracts are 8 years.) Let’s analyze the reality.
The overwhelming majority of undocumented people, approximately 70 %, are Latinos. Out of approximately 12 million undocumented people in the U.S., over 7 million are Mexican and over 1 million are Central American. The sad reality is that only about ¼ of Latino/as have ever attended college and only 11% of Latinos/as have a college degree. These are statistics for Latino/a population not considering immigration status. La Raza Educators has provided more specific statistics that suggests that only 1 out of 20 undocumented high school seniors attend college. Since two years of college is needed to fulfill the educational part of the Dream Act, it is likely that an overwhelming majority of undocumented youth will be pushed into the military in order to get a conditional green card. There is a long list of inequalities that make it hard for immigrant youth to go to college. This bill does not address these inequalities or the educational needs of undocumented youth but it addresses the needs of the U.S. military, filling their ranks.
The heavy militarization aspect of the Dream Act became clear when two important parts of the DREAM Act were removed. In an old version of the Dream Act, 910 hours of community service was one of the options to fulfill the requirement for “legalization”. This option was taken away, as was the right to pay in-state tuition. Because these two options are gone, more youth will see the military as their only option.
This is exactly what the government is interested in. Senator Dick Durbin, sponsor of the DREAM Act, has said: “The DREAM Act would address a very serious recruitment crisis that faces our military. Under the DREAM Act, tens of thousands of well-qualified potential recruits would become eligible for military service for the first time.” The military needs more recruits. The politicians’ solution is to draft the undocumented.
We cannot be willing to sacrifice the lives of so many youth for the benefit of so few. We should not support legislation that facilitates the recruitment of youth to go off to war.
CAMI, Comite Anti-Militarizacion, supports higher education for all students both documented and undocumented, however, we denounce the military component of the DREAM ACT. Unfortunately, this deadly component is strategically excluded from the debate by many Democrats and organizations who support the DREAM ACT.
In essence, the DREAM ACT will create a defacto military draft for our undocumented youth. We say defacto because although students are given a “choice”, the fact is that the deplorable and inadequate conditions of Latino schooling will make military enlistment the only “choice” for the overwhelming majority of our undocumented youth. At the present time, it is against the law to recruit undocumented youth into the US military, but with the passage of the DREAM ACT, the recruiters will then be legally able to recruit our youth.
Historically racism and discrimination at home and in the military have adversely affected Latino youth who enter the military. During the Vietnam War, Chicano and other Latino youth were sent to the frontlines in disproportionate numbers. While Chicanos and Latinos were only 4.5 percent of the U.S. population, they were 19 percent of the casualties, some 80,000 Latinos served during the Vietnam War.
With this reality, we pose the question: where will those students end up? Dead on the battlefield in Iraq or Afghanistan? Will they join the 6,000 troops currently occupying the U.S./Mexico border? As the US continues to invade and/or intervene in other countries, will our youth be forced to kill other poor people in places like Venezuela, Columbia, Iran and Cuba?
We in CAMI do not wish to antagonize or minimize the efforts of the honest youth and others who advocate for the Dream Act on behalf of undocumented students. We wish to challenge all organizations that support the DREAM ACT to join us in the struggle for the legalization of all students and our entire community. We are all brothers and sisters in this struggle, but we must never negotiate the future of our youth in exchange for the legalization of a few of our students.
We believe that our students and community deserve full and immediate legalization without having to serve in the military.
and yogurtland is open at gateway!!
One thing that seems to be overlooked in all the discussions of the DREAM act is that military service is already a path to citizenship for undocumented immigrants. So the 2 years of college “requirement” is really the big thing being changed, and unlike military service, where the immigrant is putting something of him- or herself into the citizenship equation, the 2 years of college “requirement” means the immigrant is taking another huge taxpayer subsidized benefit. Please. Let the imnmigrant prove him- or herself by giving, rather than taking.
what army in there right mind would want someone in it that has already proved they are a trader they snuck out on there own country in the middle of the night because the new country had better stuff what if we were at war with a country that had better stuff then us would they start dreaming again and sneak over to the other side and get all our loyal soldiers killed didn’t we learn any thing from the fort hood massacre
I could not agree more with Francis on this one!!! I could not have said it any better.
This article is tastelessly biased, but I guess that is why it is in the “Opinions” section.
LEAST WE FORGET IN NOVEMBER
Let us make it very clear that anti-illegal immigration groups–the majority of them are not racist. The Tea Party is certainly–NOT–racists, as one can see in the mix of demonstrations; it’s composed of everybody who believes in the “Rule of Law.” Which doesn’t mean just white people? In the 1986 an Amnesty was proposed in Congress by the late Ted Kennedy, who promised implicitly–NO–MORE—AMNESTIES prior to being enacted. Since just the 1990’s there have been six small amnesties, under the radar, hoping that the general public didn’t realize it? Senator Harry Reid, speaker Pelosi and the mob of pro amnesty politicians, thinks the American people are stupid when attaching an immigration rider to the the War appropriations bill ten days ago. The Dream Act (The Development, Relief and Education for Alien Minors Act) had a limit under the house bill, but there are—NO- restrictions under Senator Reid, Dick Durbin who said nothing about people being able to be processed up to the age of 35, as being considered for citizenship under the Dream Act.
My guess the majority of either parties, didn’t read the Dream Act attachment? By the time it would be passed, somewhere between 2 to 4 million students of illegal alien Mothers would be involved. The quality of high school performance didn’t seem to be a pre-requisite? It would be a grand award for parents who fraudulently moved to the United States. One thing Reid didn’t mention at all are those students legalized over 21 could sponsor their parents and immediate family circle. In addition even up to the age of fifteen you could still claim a visa under the Dream Act, even if you had just slid through the border. Senator Reid and top leadership cannot be trusted, as they will do anything to attract votes from the illegal minority population. Any promised Amnesty will attract people who didn’t even think of leaving there home country, until they heard that the generous American politicians were implementing another green card rush.
We must be on our guard, as senator Reid may try to slip this law into the Senate once again, before November. Use the empowerment of your vote to demand that your US Senator does not vote for this Sen. Reid Dream Act by calling the Washington switchboard at 202-224-3121. The Public servants we voted into power, doesn’t seem to exhibit any compassion for the 15 American workers out of work. This week– a charade of summoning a comedian Stephen Colbert to Washington, to promote a path to citizenship for farm workers was madness and with better things to discuss? I think the whole situation was a prime embarrassment to all citizens. What did they hope to accomplish? If American non-skilled labor was paid wages they could live on, using more new generation machines to do the work of fifty, they would get more citizens hired?
My grandfather picked grapes before the Second World War and his two boys also helped out during the harvesting season in the hot sun. One thing none of should forget that the farmers do not pay for the health care treatment and the farm workers children’s education, the US taxpayer does. Then while there here picking our fruit, vegetables any child born becomes an instant citizen. Females with multiple births can then claim citizenship for their infants and collect a whole lot of welfare benefits. This part of the 14th amendment has become a very expensive proposition for taxpayers. While citizens wait years to get on a list for low income housing, our government supply housing under section 8, food stamps, health care and a generous supply of welfare cash for each child. According to Pew Research Center there are approximately 8.5 million foreign nationals in jobs, citizens and legal residents should occupy.
The only way we can ever take back America, for the people is sending a resonant message to Congress that we mean–BUSINESS! NO MORE AMNESTIES! We must dismantle the old boy political power network, starting with the removal of—ALL– incumbents. If you want to pay fewer taxes–we need to remove Sen. Harry Reid, Nancy Pelosi, Janet Napolitano, Sen. Barbara Boxer and a list of incumbents on both sides of the aisle in Washington. Keep an eye on Senator Reid as he stealthily nearly tabled E-Verify and has been singularly involved in blocking the 287 (g) local police illegal alien detainment and other immigration power plays. Outside of the main corruption in the Capitol, state assemblies are out to build a nest egg for themselves. That’s why we need to view carefully the Governors, Mayors and other elected officials who are supposedly representing us and should be under the gun. Finally–it’s a repeat performance that if we vote in the same old lot, nothing will change.
There needs to be a contract with all new candidates, of no more “earmarks.” These things are in most cases taxpayer money, which is squandered on many incomprehensible projects. In November be assured that unknown numbers of illegal aliens will try and keep their pro-amnesty endorser in power, so all States with low security in polling stations should be scrutinized. The absentee ballot is specifically easy to forge without officials addressing this situation. As I said previously, the “honor System” cannot be trusted as today we must demand government picture ID to prove you are a citizen and have a right to vote—not just a utility bill.
Texas and every other state needs to upgrade there security when it comes to voting, for as early the early seventies? Acorn, was involved in the a voter fraud controversy, but was batten down and seemed to have died out. High population of majority ethnic communities have been caught in undermining our voting system. for those citizens interested should GOOGLE–voter fraud and illegal immigrants. The Liberal press will suppress any articles about voter fraud, but their is a mass of evidence that this goes on around the country.
Grade cards for incumbents on immigration can be evaluated at NumbersUSA. $113 Billion a year says (FAIR) along with another $60 billion out the country, to foreign families. Nobody believes the lawmakers any more, as all the promises of enforcing illegal immigration has turned to bitter waters. The Sanctuary Cities and states like California are allowed to thrive, driving up taxes for its citizens. Even the Judicial branch is not fulfilling its duties to detain and deport all illegal aliens, they are just removing the criminals that taint America.
My fellow American, our country become a third world country, thanks to the corrupt politicians that betray our trust. You are right we must take our country back next November and fire these SOBS.
vote for America’s future in November.
I do not support the DREAM Act only because it marginalizes those that are here legally. We are worried about the illegals, something that is criminalized in every country I know except for the US. But what about the kids who are here legally but have no ‘support’ from congress because it is not politically expedient to do so. As Nina above said, the legal residents have to follow rules that send them back to their home countries.
The author here said immigration should not be a pipe dream. I agree but it should be LEGAL.
The DREAM Act would be a great idea if it included ALL those brought here as children, who have completed high school and two years of college and are of good character. Unfortuantely, it is only for ILLEGALS. Children like my daughter, brought here legally, have no path to citizenship and must leave at age 21 when they are no longer classed as dependents of their parents.
Remove the word ‘UNDOCUMENTED’ from the Act and give young people brought here legally the same opportunity as those brought here illegally, and perhaps we can move forward. As it is currently worded, the Act discriminates against young people brought here legally, and that’s wrong, stupid and unAmerican.
Families who came here the right way want to stay together, too.
There is a home for these children. It’s called their legal, home countries. NO to backdoor amnesty.
Completely agree with everything said in this article, congress needs to stop playing politics with the lives of hardworking people. I support the dream act !!!
I am a strong supporter of the Dream Act, and helping children get a proper education. Children of illegals are wanting to pursue and further their knowledge, but illegal acts made by the parents ultimately hurt their children. But these children are grown and raised in this country, that they proudly call home and they are more that willing to help their country. But restrictions and documentation problems prohibits them from doing so. Pass the bill get smarter and young people to rebuild this crippling economy and help fight for this nation.
Great Article, I support the Dream Act =D