After 10 years and at least 5 different attempts, the Senate held its first hearing on the DREAM Act today. The proposed law would provide a path to citizenship for immigrants who came to this country as children, brought by their parents. The proposal has changed somewhat over the years, but it basically would allow someone who came this country through no fault of their own, who graduated high school or obtained a GED, has been accepted to an institution of higher learner or joined the military and who is of good character, among other requirements, to apply for permanent resident alien status. After two years in college or the military, so long as the applicant follows the other rules, they would become a PRA.
Why has it taken this long? The immigration argument in this country is understandable. With jobs, national security, resources, taxes and everything else that is involved, it’s no surprise that the immigration issue is, and will continue to be, hotly contested. The DREAM Act, however, seems to be the one thing that should be relatively easy to accomplish. These aren’t people that broke the law of their own accord, they haven’t committed criminal acts while here, and they would be committed to higher education and/or serving in our military.
I met someone not too long ago that absolutely fits this description. A young woman recently out of high school, she felt that her only options were to go through life working minimum wage jobs where the employer wasn’t too likely to be concerned with checking citizenship records. She came here around the age of 6 from Mexico, barely speaks Spanish, and has no friends and little family that she has any connection with in her country of birth.
For all the legitimate arguments against throwing open the borders to whomever wishes to come across them, I see no benefit to denying legal status to people like this young woman. These people want to be Americans and many of them think of themselves as such, right up until the time that they’re told that they are “illegal” and are going to be sent to home they’ve never known. The DREAM Act should be passed without further delay.