"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

[Kansas Evans]

I hope the DREAM act passes. I saw the news story of the original two boys. These kids are American in every since of the world except that they may or may not have been born here.

If we're going to brag about being the country where if you work hard, you can make something of yourself, we need to pass this act.

Enough with the thoughtless knee-jerk reactions. Tancredo and those of his ilk often react in fear more than "national security."

[ADVOCATE4ZPG]

All through their educational "careers," they knew of their jeapardy and could have returned at any time.... The risk was theirs; they are NOT innocent victims!

[AmandaM]

Returned to what? A country they don't remember and a town they've never been to? Return to being poor and down-trodden? It's not even really returning for them - they are Americans. They were raised here, they went to school here, they broke no laws. Why punish them for the sins of their parents? Would you want your own children to suffer because of mistakes you make? What about your neighbors or co-workers? If they screw up, does that mean their children deserve punishment, too? Of course not. So why do you treat the children of immigrants differently?

[Kansas Evans]

I'm sorry. I just can't rile up the indignant anger you can.

What did any of us do so special that we get to condemn others trying to improve their lives? It's not like any of us won a pre-birth tournament and first prize was to be born in America. It was all a matter of chance. I can't fault people for riding on tops of trains or saving money for a coyote to get them across the border.

[scooperss]

Common sense dictates that we take care of the people in this country LEGALLY before we start on others.

Remember those AMERICAN children who need help?????Or do you just hate them? Are you a racist?

[jay1975]

Not "undocumented" immigrants, "illegal" is the proper term. We, as a country, do not have the right to selectively obey only the laws we agree with. Until the laws change, these immigrants are here illegally, plain and simple. The process to become a citizen takes far too long and that is where the focus should be placed. Create a system that can process those who wish to obey our laws quickly.

[AmandaM]

This article is discussing the children of immigrants, not the illegal immigrants themselves. Would you support the deportation of all children who's parents entered America without a visa? Even though it would be punishing the children for their parents' actions? Would you revoke all forms of aid to those children?

[TuffPosh]

All of the millions who could receive an amnesty under the bill she discusses (yes, *millions*) are foreign citizens. If they want a college education, they can appeal to the countries they're from: Mexico, Peru, etc. Some of those countries offer free college educations, and all of those countries could use bright young people to help build their societies.

That's the natural order of things: Peru helps Peruvians, Mexico helps Mexicans, and America helps Americans. Unfortunately, the bill she discusses would make the last difficult: illegal aliens could get benefits U.S. citizens couldn't get. It's thus unfair to American citizens.

Please call your Senators and tell them to vote NO on the bill.

[AmandaM]

I always thought the natural order of things was that people help each other, regardless of race or nationality.

What benefits would these kids be getting that natural born citizens don't have? How is it unfair to the rest of us if we allow educated and trained professionals do their jobs regardless of where they (or their parents) were born?

[raymondhenryhicks]

I feel that we should take care of our neighbors in Mexico. I have a whole immigrant family right now living in my garage. What's wrong with being human? What goes around comes around. Do onto others...V­iva La Raza! They deserve all they get. Everyone join me and see that they get more.

[ADVOCATE4ZPG]

Had the Sensenbrenner immigration bill been passed, you could have been prosecuted. Be careful that your 'virtue' doesn't get your throat slashed by one of your 'guests'!

[huffnpuffn]

"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."

----------­----------­--------

Isn't that ironic.

[scooperss]

I can't get over how she thinks than an illegal immigrant has more rights to a job in America than an American.
So sick of these people and their reasonings.

[ADVOCATE4ZPG]

Please write your Congressman and Senators..­...OVER and OVER expressing your distaste for hyper-immigration, AMNESTY for ILLEGALS, and the failure of ICE to accept DEPORTABLE, illegal aliens caught by local police. If they support AMNESTY for ILLEGAL ALIENS, indicate that your support will be transferred and that YOU will report their voting record in local newspapers­....

[AmandaM]

Where in the world do you get the idea that she thinks immigrants have more rights than citizens? I didn't read anything like that in this article. She's talking about letting people who are already here, already educated, already naturalized in every way except on paper, do the jobs they are trained to do. We have a nursing shortage that could be partially alleviated if we allowed the naturalized children of immigrants to joint he workforce as legal residents. We need more teachers and they can certainly contribute there as well. So what's the big deal? Why is this proposal such a problem?

[sorenmeetsdylan]

No, it is not, in answer to your last question. It is time to support persons who suffer the necessities of coming into this country legally and don't make it a practice of raising the Mexican flag over the U.S. flag as a matter of routine during protests.

[woodsywizz]

Really quick...th­ese kids did not ask to come here, they were brought by their parents. Now they are, in all practical ways, Americans. Why marginalize them when they can be valuable to us? Why do we treat Arabs & Muslims badly when we need them to help us understand who is fighting us in Iraq? Don't blame the kids. Support the DREAM act.

[jumperpin]

Earth to woodsywizz:

The Iraqis are fighting us in Iraq.

Rewarding illegal immigration is to amplify it. If DREAM was financed through stiff fines on greedy employers who employ illegals, then we'd have some basis for agreement.

SHAFTA trade deals and federally subsidized "higher" education are both deployed to prevent living wages for workers.