Call your Senator and Voice your Support for the DREAM Act
By: JMU Duke
Published On: 9/19/2007 12:25:07 PM
Cross-posted at BYP
In this country right now, bright, educated young people who have lived here most of their lives are hoping against hope that the United States Senate will exercise real leadership on the issue of immigration reform for the first time in over a decade.Senator Dick Durbin is preparing to attach the Development, Relief, and Education for Alien Minors Act of 2007 to the defense authorization bill this week.
The DREAM Act, which enjoys wide bipartisan support, provides an opportunity for undocumented students who were brought here before age 16, who have been in the country for at last five years and who have earned a high school diploma to achieve legal residency status if they join the military or continue their education in college. Not only would this bill enfranchise the untold number of undocumented young people who are considering college with the dream of a career in the United States, it would also help those who have already graduated from undergraduate or graduate school to find legal employment through which they can apply their hard-earned degrees.
This is an opportunity for commonsense immigration reform that encourages those who are already in the country to become educated members of our society and give back with their labor once they have graduated. Unfortunately, the anti-immigrant lobby has already mobilized to block this bill from consideration. Senators Warner and Webb need to hear that we support this legislation as a fair answer to a pressing problem in our country.
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