Thread: Undocumented follow DREAM to D.C.

Undocumented students follow their DREAM to D.C.
By Susan Ferriss - Bee Staff Writer
Published 12:00 am PDT Wednesday, September 19, 2007
Story appeared in METRO section, Page B1

Getting straight A's, earning admission to universities, working 20 to 30 hours a week to pay tuition.

These are easy tasks compared to what undocumented college kids are facing as they try to gain legal status in the United States.

Today, undocumented students from University of California campuses and other colleges will meet in Washington, D.C., to urge Congress to pass the Development, Relief, and Education for Alien Minors Act, known as the DREAM Act.

The students know they're in for a bruising battle.

Senate Majority Whip Dick Durbin, D-Ill., could urge Senate passage of the DREAM Act as early as this week by attaching it to Congress' Department of Defense authorization bill.

The DREAM Act first surfaced in 2001 and once enjoyed broad bipartisan support. It would allow the 50,000 to 60,000 undocumented youths across the country who graduate from high school each year, to earn legal status over six years if they complete at least two years of college or U.S. military service. Currently, illegal immigrants are not allowed to join the military.

Only youths who arrived before the age of 16, attended school here for at least five years and have "good moral character" could qualify for the DREAM Act. An age limit, perhaps of 30, will be imposed, a Senate aide says.

Two UC Davis students, Miriam and Claudia -- who asked that their last names not be used because they fear losing their jobs -- are in Washington today to appeal to lawmakers privately and in a press event.

"People say, 'Why don't you just petition to become legal. Well, you can't," said Miriam, 20, who has been in the United States since age 7. She fears that once she graduates from college, she'll be doomed to working a low-wage job where her legal status won't matter.

Claudia, a pre-med student, said she went though a period of rage at her parents for bringing her as a child from Peru when she was 15. Now 22, she said they made a desperate decision that was meant for her own good.

Lawmakers, including some leading conservatives, have long considered the DREAM Act a humane, narrowly drawn idea that addresses a predicament not of these kids' making.

But groups that oppose the act have launched an intense protest campaign this week, labeling the DREAM Act a "shamnesty" based on "bleeding heart" stories about kids. The bill, they say, could allow millions of adults to use fake documents to make a claim for residency.

They're lambasting the proposal on talk radio, TV and Web sites. The population-control group Numbers USA says it has delivered more than 200,000 faxes to the Senate since Friday.

The Federation for American Immigration Reform, or FAIR, which favors reducing immigration in general, called the DREAM Act a "massive amnesty" under "the guise of being sympathetic to kids."

FAIR spokesman Ira Mehlman said the act should be rejected precisely because parents should be held responsible for bringing their families here unlawfully.

"There's no question that these kids were put in a difficult situation," he said. But, he argued that if an undocumented youth goes to college, it displaces a "middle-class" student who's a citizen.

The undocumented students, meanwhile, ask to be viewed not just as "illegal aliens," but as young Americans in all ways but on paper -- and who earned their spots in college, rather than "stealing" them from citizens.

"All these radio stations have given poison to the American people that they didn't have before," said UC Davis political science student Marco Diaz, 22, who arrived in California from Mexico when he was 10.

A Filipino-born student who was 5 when he arrived -- and whose mother is now married to a U.S. citizen -- said at 23 he's too old for his mother or stepfather to help him obtain residency through family sponsorship.

Family ties are virtually the only way for most immigrants to enter the United States.

"I can barely remember the Philippines," said the UC Davis student, who asked to remain anonymous.

He'll obtain a genetics degree soon and fears it will be wasted. He can't imagine being forced to return to the Philippines. "I don't know the language at all," he said.

Undocumented students are barred from aid or seeking loans, but California and some other states allow them to pay in-state tuition at public schools if they meet basic residency requirements. A state bill now before Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger would allow them to seek fee waivers and limited grants.

In a July speech on the Senate floor, Durbin said: "I have met these kids -- young men and women. What a waste it would be to turn them away. ... The fundamental premise of the DREAM Act is that we should not punish children for mistakes their parents made. That is not the American way."

Sen. Dianne Feinstein, D-Calif., said in a statement Tuesday: "The DREAM Act will help talented students who have clearly embraced the American dream. They have the incentive to become responsible, contributing, law-abiding members of our civic society. I believe we should give these students a chance to succeed, and so I will vote for the DREAM Act when it comes up for a vote."

FAIR's Mehlman suggested that undocumented kids return to where they were born and apply for U.S. residency from there.

The UC students laugh bitterly when they hear that. If any of them have a family member who can sponsor them, they've already submitted that petition and are waiting in lines that can last 15 to 20 years right now.

"They keep saying, 'Just get line.' What line? They don't even know what line they're talking about,' " said a UC Davis student born in Peru, who was too fearful to allow his name to be published. He is about to obtain an economics degree. His only hope to use that degree, he said, is the DREAM Act.

"I challenge any politician who is against the DREAM Act," he added, "to come here and meet us."

http://www.sacbee.com/101/story/387059.html

IT WOULDN'T BE SO BAD ALLOWING THIS FOR STUDENTS UNDER THE AGE OF 18, BUT ONLY IF NO CHAIN CRAP WAS ATTACHED. NOT A SINGLE STUDENT SHOULD BE ABLE TO SPONSOR ANOTHER FAMILY MEMBER...........EVER.

He'll obtain a genetics degree soon and fears it will be wasted. He can't imagine being forced to return to the Philippines. "I don't know the language at all," he said.

That's ok, I no longer know the language in California

IT WOULDN'T BE SO BAD ALLOWING THIS FOR STUDENTS UNDER THE AGE OF 18, BUT ONLY IF NO CHAIN CRAP WAS ATTACHED. NOT A SINGLE STUDENT SHOULD BE ABLE TO SPONSOR ANOTHER FAMILY MEMBER...........EVER.

I have mixed feelings about that statement. I probably would have agreed with it a week or two ago, but I have talked to enough Senate staffers to know that in the dark of night it would be amended to remove that clause.

AMERICAN UNIVERSITIES AND EDUCATION GRANTS SHOULD BE FOR AMERICAN STUDENTS FIRST. IF THERE ARE SLOTS LEFT THEN THEY SHOULD GO TO PERMANANT RESIDENTS. NO STUDENT VISAS SHOULD BE ALLOWED. THEN IF THERE ARE STILL SLOTS LEFT, THEY COULD GO TO ONE OR TWO ILLEGALS. BUT THOSE ILLEGALS SHOULD NOT BE GIVEN CITIZENSHIP OR GRANTS PAID FOR BY USA TAXPAYERS.

Originally Posted by CitizenJustice

IT WOULDN'T BE SO BAD ALLOWING THIS FOR STUDENTS UNDER THE AGE OF 18, BUT ONLY IF NO CHAIN CRAP WAS ATTACHED. NOT A SINGLE STUDENT SHOULD BE ABLE TO SPONSOR ANOTHER FAMILY MEMBER...........EVER.

Under age 18 they are not adults, so they already get a free public education. Over age 18 they are adults and should be sent back. The "not knowing the language" is BS, they are supposed to be bright but cannot learn the language their parents spoke while they were growing up? Heck, I would even be willing to pay for "Non-english as a second language" for one semester in order to "ease the transition" into their native country. For the remainder of their schooling, Felipe Calderon needs to make Carlos Slim pay for it.

More on the "don't know the language" BS. I was strolling over at COSA online, and they have a section En Espanol!! Don't know the language? Give me a break!!!