Thread: Remember the Dream Act

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Remember the Dream Act
EDITORIAL - 02/25/2006



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Otros Titulares
Remember the Dream Act


Across the country, intelligent, hard-working high school graduates are being forced into menial jobs in restaurants and hotels.
While college education has become prohibitively expensive for many lower-income families, these students face an even greater obstacle - they are undocumented immigrants, most of whom have spent the majority of their lives attending schools in the United States. According to the National Immigration Law Center, roughly 65,000 U.S.-raised undocumented students graduate from high school each year. Without legal documents, they are not eligible for federal financial aid or, in many states, in-state tuition.

Even in states such as New York, where undocumented students can receive in-state tuition to attend CUNY schools, earning a bachelor`s degree will not guarantee a job without legal documentation.

The federal Dream Act, re-introduced last November by one of its original sponsors, Senator Richard Durbin, a Democrat

from Illinois, aims to change these inequalities. After graduating from high school, students may apply for conditional status, allowing them to reside legally in the U.S. for six years and be eligible for financial aid. During those six years students must complete two years of college or military service. Then they will be able to apply for permanent legal residence.

It is unclear when the nation`s lawmakers will be able to agree on a comprehensive immigration reform bill. In the meatime, it is important that we concentrate on smaller, more focused bills such as the Dream Act, which enjoys bipartisan support. The bill`s largest impact will not be on immigration itself, but on education and fairness to students. At a time when some politicians are promoting building walls along our borders, perhaps it`s time to look inside those borders.

We urge all our representatives to support this bill. Everyone deserves the chance to pursue the American dream, especially hard-working students.

...and if passed may the enforcement provisions BE ENFORCED so that we do not have to deal with children in these odd situations in the future. Keyword here is IF.