Thread: Dream Act vote likely to determine fate of Harper Woods man

By TAMMY STABLES BATTAGLIA
Detroit Free Press Staff Writer
November 28, 2010 02:29 AM

A vote expected Monday will likely determine whether Harper Woods resident Ivan Nikolov can become a U.S. citizen or be forced to return to the Russian homeland he left as a boy.

Brought illegally to the U.S. by his parents when he was 11, Nikolov is the only blood relative left in southeast Michigan -- and the only one who might benefit from the Development Relief and Education for Alien Minors (DREAM) Act.

The legislation, scheduled for a vote Monday in the U.S. House, allows immigrants younger than 35 who were brought illegally to the U.S. before their 16th birthday an opportunity to become a citizen.

To do so, they must graduate from high school; serve in the U.S. military or attend college for at least two years, and stay out of trouble.

"I'm pretty excited," Nikolov, 22, told the Free Press in an interview from his home in Harper Woods. "I think we have the biggest chance right now. But I'm still pretty nervous. I think it's going to pass the House, but the Senate's going to be a problem."

His father left when he was a baby. Nikolov spent nearly three months in jail after U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents raided the Roseville home he shared with his stepfather, a U.S. resident, his mother and an aunt. Both women -- also in the U.S. illegally -- were immediately deported.

It was the grassroots efforts of One Michigan, a student-led organization advocating for the passage of the Dream Act, that led to Nikolov's release on a tether pending his appeal for citizenship. The group helped collect 6,500 signatures asking U.S. immigration officials to release Nikolov, and has been urging metro Detroit's congressional representatives to pass the Dream Act.

"These kids were children, if not babies, when they came over here. They had no choice," said One Michigan spokeswoman Samantha Nawrocki, 22, a University of Michigan student. "These kids want to contribute. ... Letting them earn their citizenship would allow them to contribute more."

Since Nikolov was released, he married Alanna Woolley, his Harper Woods fiancée, and got his high school equivalency certificate. He has registered for classes at Macomb Community College, hoping the Dream Act passes.

http://m.freep.com/news.jsp?key=770077&rc=lo

Related
http://www.alipac.us/ftopict-209882.html

What a poorly written story.