Thread: McCaskill response re: DREAM

Dear Mr. xxxx:

Thank you for contacting me regarding the Development, Relief, and Education for Alien Minors Act of 2009 (S.729), also known as the DREAM Act. I appreciate hearing from you, and I welcome the chance to respond.

As you may know, the DREAM Act would allow certain immigrant minors to begin a path to citizenship provided that they graduate from college or serve in our military. On October 24, 2007, I voted against a procedural motion that would have allowed the Senate to consider a previous version of the DREAM Act. This motion received 52 votes, 8 short of the 60 votes needed to advance the legislation.

I voted against the DREAM Act because I felt its broad criteria would grant too many illegal immigrants a path to citizenship. We are a nation founded by immigrants, but we are also a nation founded upon the rule of law, and it is imperative that we respect both of these traditions. I support legal immigration. I cannot support rewarding illegal immigration, which is why I helped to defeat the Comprehensive Immigration Reform Act of 2007.

However, I am uncomfortable with punishing innocent children for their parent's crimes. Many children grow up in America - studying hard and contributing to their communities - without ever knowing they were brought across our border illegally at a young age. By deporting these children, we are losing bright minds who dream of growing up to be a scientist or defend our freedom as a Marine. While I voted against the original DREAM Act, I will give careful consideration to a much narrower version that significantly limits the amount of immigrant minors eligible to begin a path to becoming taxpaying, legal citizens of the United States of America.

Since my election to the Senate, I have worked to fix our nation's broken immigration system by focusing on the need to punish employers who knowingly hire illegal immigrants. The promise of employment serves as a magnet that attracts illegal workers across our border. It stands to reason that if employers were unwilling to hire illegal immigrants, then immigrants would be less likely to risk illegally crossing our borders. My calls have finally been answered. The Obama administration recently unveiled a new policy that makes fining and prosecuting criminal employers a priority. If this Administration makes good on its promise to secure our borders and enforce the law, we could significantly reduce the flow of illegal immigrants into this country and effectively address the immigrants living illegally within our borders. I will continue working to make sure that happens.

Again, thank you for taking the time to share your thoughts with me. Please do not hesitate to contact me in the future regarding other matters of interest or concern to you.

All best,
Senator Claire McCaskill

P. S. You may sign up for my email newsletter at www.mccaskill.senate.gov .=

MY RESPONSE TO HER RESPONSE:

Thank you very much for responding to my concerns about SB729. I do appreciate it.

You stated in that response that you would support a "narrower version" of the ill-named DREAM Act. The current legislation put forth by Dick Durbin, however, is anything but a "narrower version." It is the same old amnesty proposal that the Democratic Party and ethnocentric interest groups have been trying to sneak through for years over the objections of the majority of US citizens. Let me explain:

Proponents of the DREAM Act insist that the purpose of the bill is to ensure that the children of illegal aliens—who were brought here illegally through no fault of their own and shouldn't be penalized for the sins of their parents—have an opportunity to go to college. After all, shouldn’t every child have a chance to better himself by getting a good education?


What its supporters don't tell you, though, is that the DREAM Act would award
amnesty to virtually any illegal alien under the age of 35 who first entered the United States before the age of 16, has been in the country for at least the last five years, and has earned a high school diploma or GED in the United States. While the age limit of 35 seems excessive, at least it sounds like a relatively well-defined population, right? Here's the kicker: Illegal aliens only have to submit a petition in which they claim to meet these requirements. There is not a single provision in the DREAM Act that requires the aliens to provide proof that the claims are true. In fact, once an illegal alien submits this required petition, the only way the alien can be denied amnesty is if DHS proves that the claims are false.

Think what would happen if, say, half a million amnesty applications (an extremely conservative estimate) are dumped on an agency—US Citizenship and Immigration Services—that already has over three million applications pending. How many amnesty applications are likely to be denied when every denial involves additional time to track down proof that the statements on the application are false, versus an approval that takes only the stroke of a pen? Past experience shows that the answer is frighteningly close to none, so the potential for fraud is virtually unlimited.

On top of this, the incentives created by the bill make massive fraud a certainty. For example, once an illegal alien files a petition for amnesty, regardless of whether the alien actually meets the requirements or not, DHS is prohibited from deporting that individual for any reason until the pet ition is granted or until DHS has found proof that the alien does not qualify and so denies the petition. There are no exceptions to this. So, as long as an illegal alien files an amnesty petition before he flies a plane into the World Trade Center or goes on a killing spree in the local shopping mall, we are stuck with him for as long as it takes an already backlogged agency to consider his application for amnesty.

Rest assured, though, that no illegal alien with a criminal record can qualify for amnesty – unless the criminal record only involves one or two misdemeanor convictions like DUIs or domestic violence, or it only involves violations of immigration laws or crimes committed to achieve an immigration-related goal like document fraud. Terrorists don’t qualify for the DREAM amnesty either—at least not those we have listed on a watch list and who use their real names to apply for amnesty.

The fact that there is no deadline by which all DREAM-amnesty applications must be filed means there is plenty of time for illegal aliens (those already here and those planning to come) who don’t actually qualify to fabricate or purchase their eligibility. No doubt the Mexican drug cartels and other criminal enterprises already are developing the “DREAM Setâ€

Great letter!!!

I don't know how a well educated young person could be considered at a "disadvantage" these days. They are all in to texting, twitter, instant messenging----even across international boundaries. No suffering there. With a US education they would be in high demand by a lot of multinational companies.

Originally Posted by realbsball

As you may know, the DREAM Act would allow certain immigrant minors to begin a path to citizenship provided that they graduate from college

Is she really this stupid? She believes college graduates are "minors"??

However, I am uncomfortable with punishing innocent children for their parent's crimes.

Since the DREAM Act is open ended, McCaskill is giving illegal aliens incentive to continue bringing their "innocent children" here. She is part of the problem. And how is going back and living in the country they would have lived in anyway if their parents had not broken our laws "punishment"?

Many children grow up in America - studying hard and contributing to their communities -

How the heck is sucking up $15,000 in tax money a year for school, public health care, and food stamps a "contribution"?

By deporting these children, we are losing bright minds who dream of growing up to be a scientist

The DREAM Act will give green cards to any illegal with a GED that gets a fake diploma from Jose's Plumbing Trade School. We will get 1000 low skilled workers for every scientist.