"Make or Break Day" for the DREAM Act

I couldn't help but be drawn to the subject line of one of the first emails of the morning: PLEASE HELP US!

I would have probably deleted it without opening it, assuming it was another one of those overseas money scams, but then I noticed it was from a listserve that has been very active with fighting the building of the border wall along Texas and Mexico.

When I read the email, it was a plea to help two sisters who were enrolled in college -- one had graduated from a nursing program and the other was in the middle of her own nursing studies.

The plea wasn't for money. It was to give them the opportunity to put their U.S. college degrees to work.

You see, legally neither sister can work here in this country, even with U.S. college degrees.

Why? Because they're both undocumented immigrants.

The emailed plea was to make these sisters' dream of helping the sick a reality by supporting the imminent Senate vote on a bill known as the Dream Act.

Across the country, debate over the DREAM Act -- providing undocumented students who were 15-years-old or younger when they arrived with their parents, a path to citizenship, if they either go on to college or military service and prove to be of good moral character -- always seems to get stuck on the point of granting undocumented immigrants in-state tuition.

It doesn't matter to critics that studies show that in states that already allow undocumented immigrants college access and the opportunity to compete for financial aid that the number of undocumented students is far too small to deprive native-born students of college admission slots or financial aid.

Critics still complain.

But the real complaint should be of the wasted talent that this country is allowing itself not to take advantage of and instead (here's the real kicker!) would rather import from outside the country.

For example, it's estimated that 65,000 undocumented students graduate from high school in the United States every year. There are no exact numbers of how many go on to college but we know they do by virtue of the existence of college student groups such as S.U.R.G.E. (Students United to Reach Goals in Education) and IDEAS.

These students juggle classes with homework, jobs, community service, extra-curricular activities and graduate with degrees in hand in the hopes that somebody will notice they are worthy to work legally in this country.

So far, no dice.

These students are graduating as bilingual teachers, nurses, engineers, business administrators -- the list goes on.

Yet, this country would rather slap these young people in the face by not acknowledging the fact that these students, who may not be native-born but are "home-grown," have a ready command, in most cases, of two languages and an intimate knowledge of the history, the traditions, the culture/pop culture and the issues of this country.

The further insult is that school districts facing a shortage of bilingual teachers are bypassing our own qualified graduates, albeit undocumented, to import teachers from Mexico, Spain and other South American countries to teach in a school system that they are unfamiliar with and where they should be role models in modeling both English and Spanish to their bilingual students, inevitably need to either learn English themselves or are naturally stronger in Spanish.

Hospitals are bypassing qualified nursing school graduates who are bilingual to recruit nurses from such countries as the Phillipines. Nurses who must learn U.S. routines and patient care that is unique to this country.

But because our graduates who are undocumented cannot legally work, they must stand idly by and watch their rightful jobs go to people who have a steep learning curve when it comes to knowing the culture and people of the United States.

Yet, there is one last chance to help these students, and in the process our own economy, and that is to speak up about the absurdity of this situation by asking that the Senate pass the DREAM Act.

This evening, I was invited to participate in a conference call with Senator Durbin, the main sponsor of the current DREAM Act bill going before the Senate tomorrow afternoon.

He said that many of his colleagues, who are the same critics who have shouted down the DREAM Act before, have expressed their "displeasure" in having to vote for this bill again.

Why? Because it may help the children of undocumented immigrants?

As one reader of Latina Lista commented, since when in this country do we blame the children for the sins of the parents?

If that were the case, then every child of a drunk driver, robber, rapist, embezzler, etc. would be locked up.

It's not done because our common sense tells us it's not right.

In an example of where common sense has gone out the window: on the conference call, one of the speakers made it known that in preparation for tomorrow's Senate vote on the DREAM Act, a group of undocumented students, college graduates and current students, bravely appeared before members of Congress to brief them on their lives, their struggles, and their hopes.

It was an effort to put a human face to the issue. A memo was sent out to all congressional representatives that the students were doing this. The memo went to Colorado Representative Tom Tancredo, a vocal opponent of undocumented immigrants.

His response to the memo was to issue a press release calling for ICE to come and arrest the students.

It is this kind of senseless attack that has doomed this issue to forever be unresolved and is putting the lives of innocent children under undue stress.

Senator Durbin said that if the bill fails to get the 60 votes it needs tomorrow it is dead until after the next president is elected.

These children are ready to serve this country.

Isn't it time to let common sense prevail?

It can if we call our Senator and tell him/her it's time -- to see reason.

Comments

[joja]

Ms. Trevino --

Why do you never question Mexico's part in the immigration equation? Why is it always, what more can the US do to make it easier for illegal immigrants?

Does anyone in Mexico, or of Mexican descent, feel any shame that their country, one of the richest in all of L. & S. America, and which has been independent since 18fuckin'21, seems to pride itself on being so fucked up that tens of millions of its citizens have to leave every year just to provide the barest of necessities for themselves and/or their families?

Why does Mexico continue to play these chicken-shit games with every other country in the hemisphere when it comes to immigration laws? Are you aware of Mexico's immigration laws and how they punish illegal immigrants in Mexico? Would you like to see the same thing here in the US?

Why aren't you advocating for real change in Mexico instead of our immigration laws? Wouldn't it make more sense to fix what is broken in Mexico so these people didn't have to immigrate in the first place?

Or is there some other reason you're silent on this issue?

[Tator]

"Why? Because they're both undocumented immigrants­."

I stopped reading at this point. They are not "undocumented immigrants", They are illegal aliens, criminals here by breaking the law. No amount of whitewashing is going to change the fact they broke the law.

I welcome them the old fashioned way. Go apply the LEGAL way and they will be more than welcome.

[AmandaM]

Sure, they'll be welcome. In 10 to 15 years when their application is approved. Or they won't be welcome because their nation's quota has already been filled. Or they won't be able to afford the application fee so they never apply in the first place.

If our legal immigration practices weren't so terribly outdated and inefficient, I'd probably agree with you. But as it stands now, our system is beyond flawed.

[chuckgraner]

>In 10 to 15 years when their application is approved.

All good things to those who wait.

[chuckgraner]

"In 10 to 15 years when their application is approved."

All good things to those who wait.

[Merg]

As to the 2 Nurses, they could easily enough be recruited legally into this country just as the Phillipine Nurses are the that H1b visa without having to pass a special act of congress. End of Problem

[BamaRainbow]

After reading so many utterly hate-filled pieces of tripe, one would almost think the Know-Nothing Party of the mid-19th Century was on the verge of a comeback.
I'm absolutely embarassed as a Progressive to read so much naked BIGOTRY being spewed here.
Every one of you "nativists" need to get your worthless butts kicked out of this country by the descendents of those who were here before YOUR ancestors ILLEGALLY immigrated.
Maybe some of you might also want to reread a little piece of American values:

Not like the brazen giant of Greek fame,
With conquering limbs astride from land to land;
Here at our sea-washed, sunset gates shall stand
A mighty woman with a torch, whose flame
Is the imprisoned lightning, and her name
Mother of Exiles. From her beacon-hand
Glows world-wide welcome; her mild eyes command
The air-bridged harbor that twin cities frame.
"Keep, ancient lands, your storied pomp!" cries she
With silent lips. "Give me your tired, your poor,
Your huddled masses yearning to breathe free,
The wretched refuse of your teeming shore.
Send these, the homeless, tempest-tost to me,
I lift my lamp beside the golden door!"

The New Colossus by Emma Lazarus

Those of you with a limited amount of education might recognize the words from a plaque on the base of the Statue of Liberty.

[scifiwriter]

That may have applied a few hundred years ago when we needed immigrants to populate the land, but no longer. Over-population is a serious problem and will only get worse as cities become more crowded. Just look at Atlanta facing a water-shortage crisis. Cities in California and Nevada will soon face similar problems, particularly as global warming increases .
My grandparents immigrated here legally in the 1920's. Sounds like you're the nativist if you have a problem with that. And a bigoted one, at that.

[billysviez]

most of these People i see don't try to become Americans. they speak spanish in public, even if they know how to speah English. they want us to change Our Culture to fit theirs. NO ONE should break Our Laws and be rewarded.

[freebrew]

This has nothing to do with 'nativism', or bigotry. The fact is American citizens are being laid-off, fired and locked out of their jobs because illegals are offering to do work for far less money than the legal citizen can afford to work. Meanwhile, the taxes paid by American citizens are NOT being used to help those legally in this country.
I have a daughter in college. The federal gov't has not offered to help her, in fact has turned her down for assistance(thank you very much).
Our taxes are being used to fund wars, more military build-up against an unseen, non-existant enemy while the rich MIC gets richer.
Conservatives rail against socialism while giving my hard-earned wages to corporations that don't need it instead of helping our citizens in need or funding universal healthcare, free college educations, etc.
The USA has lost even the appearance of being number one in ANYTHING except for the number of morons that fall for the Pravda-like 'news' spouted by the likes of Bill O or the drugged out idiot limbaugh.

[cowboyjerkface]

You can thank George Bush and the republican party for reducing student aid. It is not the fault of immigrants that your daughter cannot get student aid so get a life! Democrats think anyone who can qualify grade wise should have an education paid for but republicans dont want anyone getting student aid except the wealthy!

[AmandaM]

A lot of people go to college without government assistance (myself included). I had scholarships and loans that I'll be paying back for another 10 years. Your daughter is not unique in this regard, nor is it an insurmountable obstacle if she works hard and manages her money wisely after graduation. Maybe you disagree with me on this, but I don't think the federal government should be funding college educations except through loan programs and a few merit-based scholarship programs. I think we put too much emphasis on a college degree for jobs that really don't require one. You don't need 4 years of college to be a secretary or a sales rep or computer programmer. There are a ton of career paths out there that have loads of job openings, especially in trades like electricians, plumbing, various kinds of technicians, etc. that require trade school or on-the-job training.

[cowboyjerkface]

What makes you think these comments are from progressives and not from conservatives?

[llamajockey]

Oh my more revisionist romantic tripe from the Open Borders lobby.

The official name of the Statue of Liberty is "Liberty Enlightening the World" or in the original French "La liberté éclairant le monde".

see http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Statue_of_Liberty

The purpose of the Statue was to encourage the French people to create a new and stable Republic after the dictatorship of Napoleon III and the disaster of Franco-Prussian war using the 100 year legacy of the United States as the inspiration. The French historian and intellectual Édouard René Lefèvre de Laboulaye wanted to remind the French that preserving liberty and living up to its ideals required sacrifice just as the US had suffered during its recent Civil War. Therefore French children were asked to help raise the money for the statue. The Statue was completed in 1886.

The poem "The New Colossus" by Emma Lazarus has never been an official motto of the Statue of Liberty. It does not appear on the outside of the statue. It was only placed unofficially inside the Statue's pedestal in 1903 as a personal tribute to the author who died a tragic early death by her wealthy and connected admirers and was never intended as the political statement the Open Borders revisionists have made it out to be over the years.

If Hispanics have anything to learn from the Statue of Liberty it is its only, original and official message that they should attempt to correct the failures of their own societies.

[voiceone]

I called all 100 senators today and asked them to vote NO on the Dream Act. We have already paid for these kids health care, their education and who knows what else. I find it hard to belive they want us to pay for their college now too. The grants they will recieve will also be payed for by the American Tax payers. Enough is Enough

[ADVOCATE4ZPG]

Exactly! They've been well-prepared to return to THEIR, native countries and contribute MIGHTILY to their improvement!

[voiceone]

As a country we should enforce all our laws. As an American Citizen I know if I break the law I will pay the price. Knowing this I don't break the law. If we tell 20 million people in this country here illegally it's ok to break our laws will they learn respect for our laws?

[Mormondude]

According to Drudge, Tom Tancredo alerted ICE this afternoon to be there for Durbin's grandstanding to round up illegal aliens.

Good for him.

[howdouno]

This article is an eloquent plea for a dubious policy, but you have to wonder if America wouldn't be stronger if we nourished the illegal immigrant already here. Of course, we also have to get serious about fining corporate employers, enforcing labor laws, and deporting criminal aliens too.

[ADVOCATE4ZPG]

"Nourishing" the present cohort ONLY invites the egregious process to go on and on.....res­ult: another type of chain migration.­...

[StokeyBob]

Dream Act???

Why the special treatment?

Some of us once had dreams of our own.

Back in the 60’s the Federal Government came into the public schools and brainwashed us as little children with the message that the children we were about to have were unwanted because the population was rising so fast. They launched a program called, “Zero Population Growth”. They pushed Family Planning and birth control pills. Now they call the same programs, "Safe Sex" but the results are the same. I think you and I both know that you only have to trick people for their few child bearing years and there is no going back.

Many of us never had a say in the future of our unborn.

I am the result of two living cells. One from each of my parents. They are the result of two living cells, one from each of their parents. I wasn't just born. I am a continuation of life. I am a living thing that reaches back into time perhaps 400 million years and the result of billions of joining of pairs of cells. It is possible that if you were to follow my cells back to my parent’s cells and beyond that my family tree touches every living thing here on earth. That is if we limit ourselves to believing life was created here on earth. If it rained down from the immensity of the universe it could reach back into that immensity of time and space, and who knows what relationships and who knows what species.

My family line succeeded, at least until I came up against the Federal Government and their plan to control the population.

I have seen the Federal Government do little else to control the population.

The open border, United States laws only apply to some, is a serious slap in the face. No, not a slap in the face, it reaches well beyond that. Maybe back to the beginning of time and stretch to the bounds of the universe.

[FearlessFreep]

"As one reader of Latina Lista commented, since when in this country do we blame the children for the sins of the parents?"

Since welfare reform.

[ADVOCATE4ZPG]

....and an institution with the name Latina Lista is counted as OBJECTIVE.­...about a panoply of social gifts to Hispanics.­...?

[jumperpin]

The "Education Myth" meets undocumenteds invited here by greedy employers.

Forgive me. Am not the least bit moved.

[FunTravelAdventure]

Those sisters should go back to their own country to take care of their own people.
On the way out, write a check for the full amount of their education and all other financial aid to include food stamps, medical care, housing assistance, etc etc. and send it to the US government for services rendered.
Oh yeah, take all their illegal relatives with them.
For the first time in my life I voted a straight Democrat ticket in 2006 with the expectation the Dems would get us out of Iraq and scrap this horrible health care system. Instead the Dems are trying to shove these millions of ILLEGAL ALIENS down our throats. If this passes, I will never vote for another Democrat in my life. PERIOD

[Kansas Evans]

Beyond that fact that I don't get the since that the Dems are trying to show illegal immigrants down anyone's throats, your facts about food stamps, etc, etc are not correct.

There are many services immigrants do NOT apply for because they'll be found out and deported. Many immigrants pay taxes. The costs of public education and whatever other services they are provided don't account for any lack to any legal citizen.

[ADVOCATE4ZPG]

Thank You! You WILL be joined by MILLIONS of others who feel, at least, as strongly as you....!

[Rayzrant]

How many of you socialist progressive types are college educated?

A quick show of hands how many of you work in the in the public sector or with human services?

graduates who are undocumented cannot legally work, they must stand idly by and watch their rightful jobs...the­se interlopers rightful jobs are in the country of their origin, not the US.
I would love to see Secretary Chertoff, with an ICE team,as they arrest every one of the illegal aliens trespassing in our house,and provide them with their only right they have in my country,the right to be treated humanely as they are deported.
Enough typing about me, back to you deep thinkers. If you were in a hiring position and this act became law who would you hire.

How is your spanish?

[FoundersFan]

Isn't it time to let common sense prevail?
==========­==========­==========­=

Absolutely, positively. And it can start with calling this what it really is---the Nightmare Act.

[scooperss]

The DREAM Act will grant amnesty to millions of illegal aliens and *********help them pay college tuition at taxpayer expense***­**********­. There is NO CAP on the number of people who may receive amnesty under the DREAM Act. Moreover, to make even more people eligible for amnesty under the program, Homeland Security may waive the following offenses: * Failure to show up in court;
* Obtaining visas by fraud;
* Alien smuggling;
* Document fraud;
* Violation of student visas;
* Marriage fraud;
* Falsely claiming citizenship;
* Voter fraud.