Thread: Good kids are counting on Dream Act

Macarena Hernández:
Good kids are counting on Dream Act
But path to college is tied up in immigration reform



08:34 AM CDT on Friday, July 7, 2006


This week, House and Senate committees have embarked on a nationwide tour to listen to people who have a stake in immigration policy. Casting all cynicism aside, let's say these public hearings have nothing to do with midterm elections and everything to do with an honest desire to untangle our immigration mess.

If that's the case, then I think these leaders need to hear from Carla, a bright, ambitious 17-year-old Dallas student who will be directly affected by whatever they decide. This is what she'd tell them:

After watching her mother clean other people's bathrooms for 14 years, she wants something more for her life. She's worked hard, and she's now poised to graduate from high school in the top 10 percent of her class. She wants to go to a good college, but she can't – unless Congress acts.

Because Carla (who asked that her last name not be used) is in this country illegally, she doesn't qualify for most financial aid. Even if she manages to work her way through school with a low-paying job – the only kind available to her – without legal status, she would be blocked from pursuing her profession.

Her only hope is an amendment, known as the Dream Act, tacked onto the controversial immigration legislation now stalled out in Congress. The amendment would give the estimated 65,000 undocumented high school seniors who graduate annually the legal status to qualify for college financial aid and put them on a path to citizenship.

If there is anyone to make a case for the Dream Act, it's Carla. Even as her mother tells her to give up her dream, Carla keeps studying. This summer, she's taking a year's worth of pre-calculus so that she'll be able to take Advanced Placement calculus this fall.

In some ways, she says, being here illegally "made me want to be better, and to show them that I'm not here to waste my time."

Carla, her mother and two older siblings left Chihuahua in 1992 after her father abandoned them. They came to Dallas on a visa to visit family and never left.

"I know it's not my fault that I'm here, but I'm not blaming my single mother for trying to pursue a better life, either," she says. "I was only 3 when I came here. I can't go back to Mexico; I can barely speak Spanish."

Federal law mandates equal access to education for elementary and secondary education, no matter the child's legal status. Denying the good students a route to higher education is not only cruel, but also wasteful. By some estimates, $200,000 in taxpayer money will be spent on Carla's education by the time she graduates in May 2007.

"If we allow these roadblocks to higher education to persist," says Sen. Dick Durbin, D-Ill., a co-sponsor of the Dream Act, "we ultimately hurt our nation because we deprive ourselves of future leaders and the increased tax revenues and economic growth they would produce."

Carla wants to enroll at the University of Texas at Austin. She loves math and wants to become an accountant. Someday, she says, she'd also like to open a center that helps single mothers, like her own, learn English, find resources and help kids like her find scholarships. She says she was counting on the Dream Act to pass this year. It's been making its way through Congress since 2004, and last year, the Senate Judiciary Committee passed it, 16-3, with overwhelming bipartisan support. With the best of intentions, though, the legislation was attached to the larger immigration package – and then it got swallowed up in the contentious debate.

Some people may think the Dream Act sounds like a free pass, a reward to people who've broken the law. But the legislation is written to encourage the young people with the most promise, like Carla. At the time of application, they must have earned their high school diploma or GED, be accepted to a two- or four-year college, have no criminal record and exhibit good moral character.

If the immigration reform legislation tanks, Carla fears her life won't be much better than her mother's. "I don't want to be cleaning other people's houses," she says. "That's not what I dream of. I want a piece of the American dream."


Macarena Hernández is a Dallas Morning News editorial columnist. Her e-mail address is mhernandez@dallasnews.com.

Ya....but that's what they want you hear for.....CHEAP labor. To do the jobs Americans won't do. And now you want MORE? Hmm....not part of the deal.

Besides some of our own good, legal, hard working kids would like the same break too. A shot at the American Dream just like all their Legal forefathers did. But no....you take the low jobs and alot of the mid-jobs , illegally, use the system, illegally..get an education and expect more for being here illegally, limit the jobs we can get because of "must speak Spanish", etc......and would someone tell me what the CITIZENS are supposed to be doing?

Americans would like to have their dream too. But unfortunately all we get is a nightmare called 'crooked government'. Go home illegals, we are weary of your greed.

Another single mom wanting a handout. Education, healthcare...neither are cheap.

No matter how great you are, there is someone better. An american with the same or greater struggle than you. Get the F out.

Because Carla (who asked that her last name not be used) is in this country illegally, she doesn't qualify for most financial aid. Even if she manages to work her way through school with a low-paying job – the only kind available to her – without legal status, she would be blocked from pursuing her profession.

And she should not qualify for financial aid, but does qualify for deportation.

Federal law mandates equal access to education for elementary and secondary education, no matter the child's legal status. Denying the good students a route to higher education is not only cruel, but also wasteful. By some estimates, $200,000 in taxpayer money will be spent on Carla's education by the time she graduates in May 2007.

She has already gotten $200,000 of taxpayer money in just education alone...and we are supposed to give her more of our money? Should not have included this little tidbit in the article.

What about American children? I have 2 young children who are going to have to more than likely scrimp and save and work their hineys off to go through college (if that is even an option in the future and given the way things are going I am not sure that will be an option). They are going to have to struggle to pay for college because American parents are being taxed to the point of not being able to save anything for their own children to go to college....and why...so we can provide a bright future for someone who should not even be in this country. I THINK NOT!!!

sob sob sob..................... they've been here how long? Plenty of time to apply to become citizens. Tired of these illegal kids thinking they deserve this and that. The kid should just go ahead and try to get herself legal first, then she can work her behind off while going to college like the rest of us.

Even if she manages to work her way through school with a low-paying job – the only kind available to her – without legal status, she would be blocked from pursuing her profession.

Carla, hon, have I got news for you. There are ONLY low-paying jobs for college students.

Carla, her mother and two older siblings left Chihuahua in 1992 after her father abandoned them. They came to Dallas on a visa to visit family and never left.

How is any single mother able to raise three children by cleaning toilets. Think she might be getting a helping hand from Social Services?

Gimme, gimme, gimme.............Carla needs to be doing her dreaming back home!

"If we allow these roadblocks to higher education to persist," says Sen. Dick Durbin, D-Ill., a co-sponsor of the Dream Act, "we ultimately hurt our nation because we deprive ourselves of future leaders and the increased tax revenues and economic growth they would produce."

Well, Senator Durbin why don't you open your wallet and pay for her education?? Do not ask the taxpayer to subsidize higher education for illegals!!! We have our own children to educate!!!

I'm so sick of these bleeding heart sob stories!!

Sailor, do you listen to WPTF? Bill LuMaye's been to the border this week. I could hear his blood pressure going up this afternoon talking about this illegal mess.

Originally Posted by had_enuf

Sailor, do you listen to WPTF? Bill LuMaye's been to the border this week. I could hear his blood pressure going up this afternoon talking about this illegal mess.

I listen every chance I get. It is usually during my drive home from work.
Bill does tend to express himself at times! Wish I could have heard more of his program today!