Published: May 26, 2010
Updated: 12:53 p.m.

Sanchez co-sponsors immigrant-education bill

BY CINDY CARCAMO and DENA BUNIS
THE ORANGE COUNTY REGISTER

The bill seeks to give students who are in the country illegally a pathway to U.S. citizenship.

Sanchez declined to comment on her co-sponsorship of the bill, which proposes allowing students who are in the country illegally the chance to apply for legal permanent residency, protect them from deportation and make them eligible for student loans and federal work-study programs.

Opponents of the DREAM Act say it would reward illegal behavior. Most local Congress members are against the bill, stating that it would encourage others to enter the country illegally in an effort to get the same benefits for their children.

Supporters say it would allow these students to give back to America by becoming part of the Social Security system, by paying federal and state income tax and by using their ability and education to be productive members of society

"It's been a long fight," said Yenni Diaz, spokeswoman for the Orange County DREAM team.

Click here to read more about the Dream Act.
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Diaz, a political science student at University of California Irvine, made the co-sponsorship announcement to a crowd at a Los Amigos meeting Wednesday morning where she was met with applause.

"It's a sad day when we have to convince one of our own to become a cosponsor of our bill," said Amin David, the Los Amigos leader.

"This should have been 9 years ago," Diaz quipped back.

The proposed federal legislation -- introduced by Senators Richard Durbin of Illinois and Richard Lugar of Indiana and Reps. Howard Berman of California and Lincoln Diaz-Balart of Florida -- has been around since 2000 but has faced opposition and defeat in the past.

Some congressional leaders are not going to allow the DREAM Act to come up separately because they plan to fold it into a comprehensive immigration overhaul bill, officials say. In the past, Sanchez said she would support the proposed bill but came short of co-sponsoring it until now.

Her co-sponsorship is the latest victory in a movement that has gained grassroots momentum in the last few weeks, first sparked by the May 15 deaths of two fellow activists in Maine.

Since then officials detained a group of DREAM Act activists who staged a sit-in at the Arizona offices of U.S. Sen. John McCain, lobbying for support of the bill. Some now face deportation proceedings.

In Los Angeles, police arrested another group of DREAM Act demonstrators who blocked traffic.

The movement has escalated to the point that its student activists who are in the country illegally are putting themselves at risk for deportation, Diaz said.

Last week at the California League of United Latin American Citizens Women's Conference, a group of DREAM Act student activists again pressured Sanchez into co-sponsoring the bill, telling her that they couldn't wait for immigration reform to happen.

"We're now in 2010 and I know of many students who have graduated and are continuing with their Masters or PhD programs, just waiting," Diaz said.

Contact the writer: 714-796-7924 or ccarcamo@ocregister.com

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