Spring Break
The DREAM Act Deferred
Aaron Abelson (aarona@)
Issue date: 1/8/08 Section: Opinion
The topic of immigration has always sparked controversy, but recently the fires were stoked when Congress failed to take a bipartisan step towards creating a pragmatic, functioning immigration policy. A vote to permit debate on the Development, Relief, and Education for Alien Minors (DREAM) Act fell eight votes short in the Senate. The act, presented in several different forms over the past six years, would have enabled illegal immigrants who have graduated from high school while in the United States to gain legal resident status and later apply for citizenship upon the completion of at least two years of college or military service.
While the specifics of this law are not complicated, emotions, politics and spin have confused and distorted the debate. The most recent version of the DREAM Act, introduced in the Senate last month, applies to students who have been in the United States for more than five years before the enactment of the bill, have stayed out of legal trouble and, as noted, have graduated from high school. Under the proposed law, graduating seniors could apply to receive a six-year conditional status during which they would have to complete at least two years of college or military service. Upon completion, they would receive legal resident status, an important step on the road to citizenship. Some previous drafts have included clauses addressing in-state tuition for illegal immigrants, but for political reasons this most recent version did not.
About 60,000 undocumented immigrants graduate from high school each year without the possibility of continuing to higher education because of cost limitations and/or fear of discovery and deportation. Many of these young men and women have lived most of their lives in this country and identify themselves as American. However, because their parents arrived illegally, these undocumented students are denied the opportunities their ability and hard work should afford them. These students may be valedictorians, honor students, athletes, or just highly motivated individuals, but they cannot fulfill their potential without the opportunity to continue their education.
While the specifics of this law are not complicated, emotions, politics and spin have confused and distorted the debate. The most recent version of the DREAM Act, introduced in the Senate last month, applies to students who have been in the United States for more than five years before the enactment of the bill, have stayed out of legal trouble and, as noted, have graduated from high school. Under the proposed law, graduating seniors could apply to receive a six-year conditional status during which they would have to complete at least two years of college or military service. Upon completion, they would receive legal resident status, an important step on the road to citizenship. Some previous drafts have included clauses addressing in-state tuition for illegal immigrants, but for political reasons this most recent version did not.
About 60,000 undocumented immigrants graduate from high school each year without the possibility of continuing to higher education because of cost limitations and/or fear of discovery and deportation. Many of these young men and women have lived most of their lives in this country and identify themselves as American. However, because their parents arrived illegally, these undocumented students are denied the opportunities their ability and hard work should afford them. These students may be valedictorians, honor students, athletes, or just highly motivated individuals, but they cannot fulfill their potential without the opportunity to continue their education.
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