Gutiérrez Dreams the Impossible DREAM Act

By Elizabeth Llorente

Published November 29, 2010

U.S. Rep. Luis Gutierrez, D-Ill., addresses a crowd where he announced he would not run for mayor of Chicago so that he could focus on immigration reform.

On Monday, when Congress is expected to take up the DREAM Act, a highly controversial bill that allows undocumented students who came to the United States before age 16 to become legal residents after five years by completing higher education or joining the military service, it will be in large measure because of the efforts one man – Rep. Luis Gutiérrez (D) of Illinois.

Gutiérrez spent part of Thanksgiving recess traveling to different states, pleading the case of the tens of thousands of undocumented youth who forego college because they cannot afford the out-of-state tuition rates they are forced to pay because of their status.

“They didn’t decide, when they were six, seven or eight years old, to come here [illegally],â€