Guest Column
Immigration Matters: America Needs the Dream Act for Undocumented Students
- By Deepak Bhargava
- New America Media, Commentary
- Feb 22, 2006
- Children of
undocumented immigrants are in the crosshairs of anti-immigrant
advocates’ attacks on new Americans. Across the country, efforts are
under way to strip these students of the ability to go to college. If
they succeed, this will be a tragedy for all Americans, not only for
youth relegated to a permanent underclass.
Fortunately for all of us, immigrant youth and their allies will not take this lying down. Young immigrants actively campaigned to re-introduce the DREAM Act in the Senate last November. The DREAM Act (S. 2075) would remove barriers to obtaining higher education for undocumented children who graduate from American high schools. It would also provide these immigrant youth, who in most cases have never known another home outside America, a path to obtaining legal status.
Access to education is a fundamental American value. United States law guarantees access to primary and secondary education to all children regardless of immigration status. The Supreme Court affirmed this right in 1981. Immigration is a fundamentally American experience. Families come to this country every day – legally and illegally – to escape poverty, oppression and danger and to find opportunity, freedom and safety. Denying innocent young people the opportunity to advance with their peers violates these values.
This weekend, young activists will gather in Chicago for the first of a series of regional youth trainings being held across the country. The trainings will strengthen their organizing and leadership skills to fight for passage of the DREAM Act and combat the anti-immigrant political environment in this country.
One student is Diana, a 20-year old from Chicago who graduated at the top of her high school class. Fortunately for her, an Illinois law enabled her to attend college at the same reduced rate paid by her high school peers. Diana is now a senior at the University of Illinois at Champaign-Urbana, where she is pursuing a double major in Political Science and Economics. Yet her troubles are far from over. Unless the DREAM Act passes, she may be unable to work or go to graduate school. Like all youth in her situation, she lives in constant fear of deportation.
By passing this legislation, we’re doing more than opening up the doors of education and military service for young undocumented youth; we’re building a stronger society. We’re enabling high achievers like Diana to use their talent and hard work in ways that benefit America and make us more competitive abroad.
The DREAM Act would stem the tide of poverty and lost opportunities that many of these students face. But it is not a free pass. Young people must meet stringent requirements in order to qualify. Students must have lived in this country for at least 5 years and be of good moral character. They must posses a high school diploma or a GED in order to qualify. After that, they would be given conditional status for 6 years, within which time they must have completed at least 2 years of college or military service. Only then would they qualify as applicants for permanent residency status. Hardly a walk in the park.
There are tentative signs in states like Virginia that the political pendulum may be swinging in favor of undocumented immigrant rights. In mid-February, the State Senate overwhelmingly approved a bill that would allow students who graduate from Virginia high schools, whose parents have paid taxes for at least three years and who are actively seeking residency status, to be granted entry into Virginia colleges at reduced, in-state fees.
The bill was introduced by Emmett W. Hanger, a Republican and longtime opponent of college education for undocumented students. After presiding over naturalization ceremonies and seeing these new citizens swear their loyalty after years of effort and toil, Mr. Hanger had a change of heart.
Despite the deafening noise of hatred and racism pouring out of our legislatures and television sets, there are signs of a growing movement that believes that every child, family and worker in America should be treated with dignity and has a shot at the American dream.
We must come together to change the communities in which we live and create a society that recognizes the contributions of students like Diana. From Chicago to Nashville to Phoenix, young people from all walks of life are galvanizing to change a nation. Together, we can change the tone of the immigration debate in America and ensure the DREAM Act becomes law.
Deepak Bhargava, the executive director of DC-based Center for Community Change, a nonprofit, nonpartisan, low-income advocacy group. - http://news.newamericamedia.org/news/view_article.html?article_id=4d87fd3f7e65879a34de4b36a9352e23
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Author Deepak Bhargava |
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