Reasons Why The DREAM Act Appears To Be Bad Legislation:
* THERE ARE NO NUMERICAL LIMITS ON THE NUMBER OF PERSONS THAT CAN APPLY AND RECEIVE CONDITIONAL STATUS. An unlimited number of persons can apply and receive permanent residency by meeting only the most basic residency and school attendance requirements.
* The application process appears to require only sworn statements about the residence and length of stay in the country, and more importantly, allows information to be self-reported. (Considering the potential for alien's families to have previously engaged in document-related fraud to enter and/or work here, the self-reporting of any information should be viewed with great skepticism)
* Hardship exceptions are included which allow waiver of removal orders not only for the alien child, but also for immediate family members as well. (Thus, in a case where a hardship exception can be acquired, it would be a method by which to gain
PR for all immediate nuclear family members)
* Hardship exceptions are included that allow the education or military service requirements to be waived. (In other words, the requirements are not necessarily requirements!)
* A denied application invokes termination of the conditional Permanent Residency. At the same time, there are no details outlined which describe how that individual will be identified and removed from the country. (It only outlines administrative procedures that occur 'on paper'. The person could potentially continue to stay in the US illegally, as before the application had been submitted)
* Filing an application under the program ensures that DHS cannot begin deportation/removal proceedings. (What happens if an alien commits a crime, and then files an application under the DREAM act to intentionally avoid what would have been a likely deportation/removal order?)
* Provisions have been written in the bill so that if DHS suffers from a significant backlog of applications, then the applicant shall not suffer adverse treatment as a result of this delay. (That way, if DHS can't or won't process the applications in a timely fashion, then, by default, the applicant gains an effective immunity from removal/deportation process in the meantime)
* Allows AG to intercede into existing deportation processing involving children if they are 12+ years old and enrolled in school full-time.
* Bill includes strong confidentiality provisions. Language of bill ensures that the true ID of the applicant can only be disclosed internally within DHS/DoJ (eg. DHS decisions to grant
PR are effectively done with no public scrutiny nor oversight) in the interest of maintaining 'privacy' of individual.
* Allows qualified alien students to apply for and receive federal student assistance: student loans, work-study, etc. during the application period (during conditional
PR).
* The bill refers to the maintenance of 'good moral character' as part of the requirements for successful application, but does not describe exactly what the term actually means (Typically, this translates to 'not having a criminal history' - but the exact details need to be identified)