The DREAM Act for Jessica Colotl
I’m a big fan of the DREAM Act, which would allow promising illegal immigrants to get college degrees and then get on the path to citizenship. This country desperately needs more college graduates, and there is little argument that undocumented college graduates would burden our financial resources. Because it is narrowly tailored, it wouldn’t prompt a stampede across our borders, as detractors claim.
And The DREAM Act would free promising students like Jessica Colotl to focus on their studies:
Jessica Colotl, 21, is a senior at Kennesaw State University, a political science major and a member of Lambda Theta Alpha, a college sorority. She wants to attend law school.
However, she came to this country illegally, with her parents, when she was a child. And her detractors don’t care what she’s accomplished since then. They want to send her back to Mexico, a country she barely knows.
But for years, the Congressional Hispanic Caucus has been reluctant to endorse the DREAM Act as a separate piece of legislation, fearing that, if it passes, they won’t get the necessary votes for the rest of comprehensive immigration reform. This week, the caucus, happily, changed its mind and will support the DREAM act as a separate bill. (h/t Think Progress)
Today however, at the Reform Immigration for America campaign’s “Relief, Reform, Respect for our Families” forum, CHC Chairwoman Nydia Velázquez (D-NY) announced that the caucus supports Sen. Harry Reid’s (D-NV) addition of the DREAM Act as an amendment to the defense authorization bill, stating “the time is now” for the DREAM Act:
As chair of the Congressional Hispanic Caucus I stand here before you to say that all along we have said to the Democratic leadership — in the House and in the Senate — and to the President every time we’ve met with him that we will not stand in the way of the DREAM Act, but there has to be a commitment that no amendments will be allowed to be included in this bill. We will support the DREAM Act. [...]
Congress ought to concentrate on a few small bills that would represent a modest improvement over the current reality for millions of those without papers — a life of living in the shadows, without legal protections, with continual fear of deportation and little chance for improved circumstances.
One of the best opportunities lies in the DREAM Act, which would allow promising undocumented students to start a path toward citizenship if they meet certain standards. The proposal — pushed for years by U.S. Sen. Dick Durbin (D-Ill.) — is intended to boost illegal immigrants who came to the U.S. as children, have finished high school and want to attend college or join the U.S. Armed Forces. The bill is a win not only for those students, but also for the country as a whole.
Much of the fury directed at illegal immigrants feeds off the notion that many of them are unfairly taking advantage of benefits that should be restricted to American citizens. However, that’s not the case with college; undocumented students are not displacing bona fide citizens who have been denied a seat in Calculus II.
In fact, the United States doesn’t have nearly enough students attending college. President Obama has talked again and again about the country’s decline in educational attainment: the U.S. used to the lead the world in the number of people with college degrees, but we’ve fallen behind.
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162 comments Add your comment
Nothing Is Free
September 17th, 2010
1:32 am
While I commend Reid for finally stepping up and putting the DREAM Act in play, I’m wondering why — if it was this easy — he didn’t do it last year, or the year before. Maybe it was because he wasn’t facing a tough re-election fight back home in Nevada, a state with a sizable Hispanic population that one might assume would look favorably on the DREAM Act.
And my main quibble with Reid is that he insists on engaging in revisionist history. A hyperpartisan, he reflexively blames Republicans for killing immigration reform.
Reid ought to tell the story right and just admit that it was he and other Senate Democrats — including a certain Illinois freshman senator who went on to bigger and better things — who killed immigration reform at the behest of organized labor, because union leaders opposed any compromise that included guest workers.
In fact, Democrats pulled this stunt twice — once in 2006 when they were in the minority and again in 2007 when they controlled both houses.
Still, partisan politics and creative storytelling aside, what’s even more interesting than the split between Republicans and Democrats is that — when it comes to the DREAM Act — there is also a noticeable split between immigration reformers.
In one corner are those, like Reid, who think that Congress should pass the DREAM Act to solve at least a portion of the immigration problem by changing for the better the lives of as many as 700,000 young people. In the other are those — like Sen. Chuck Schumer, D-New York, and members of the Congressional Hispanic Caucus — who claim they want to stay focused on the crusade for comprehensive immigration reform and change the status of more than 10 million people.
In that face-off, I side with the pragmatists who want to deal with the DREAM Act à la carte. Who are we kidding? And what are we waiting for? In the last few years, Democrats have shown pretty clearly that they’re no more interested in passing wholesale immigration reform than Republicans were when that party controlled Congress. This is probably as good as it gets.
Besides, all the Schumer camp is dreaming about is the votes of the millions of illegal immigrants they hope to convert to U.S. citizens — something that could have long-term benefits for the Democratic Party. That’s shrewd but cynical politics, the kind practiced by elected officials who always put their personal and partisan interests ahead of the folks they claim to be helping — and then hope no one calls them on it.
RTW
September 17th, 2010
4:13 am
In an exclusive recent interview with 11 Alive’s Paul Crawley, she stated, “I do understand that there are laws that need to be followed, and if I have to go back to my country, to Mexico, I will have to go back.” CT-I would think that Mexico would benefit more from her college degree than the U.S. would. Both her and her parents knew that this might be a problem. Yet during their transits between Mexico and the US (she wasn’t here continuously by the way), they were fully aware of her (and her family’s) illegal status. What part of law breaking do you not understand? The law is the law. They knew that they were breaking it, but were hopeful they weren’t caught. She would serve HER country better by graduating from a Mexican institution and by serving her own country. Mexico is in shambles because people choose to flee from their problems instead of facing them and working to improve the conditions of their own homeland. Wouldn’t you agree?
simple to solve, man.
September 17th, 2010
6:32 am
To solve all of our immirgration problems, make our laws match the laws of the country, that the immigrants come from. If they want except one type of problem, why should we?
The REAL GodHatesTrash, Superstar
September 17th, 2010
6:57 am
Modern life is full of stressors, and it requires a healthy mind and disposition to negotiate without creating additional stress. Intellect is one of our natural defense against stress, it helps us not only solve our problems, but put them in perspective. People with low IQs lack that tool, and many resort to alcoholism and drug abuse instead.
Could lower IQs be a factor in the statistically significant higher incidence of drug abuse and alcoholism in red states in general and the south in particular? If we use standardized test data as a surrogate for IQ, a case could be made.
I’m off to work.
Discuss amongst yourselves.
simple to solve, man.
September 17th, 2010
7:19 am
In the 60s our colleges and universities open their doors to anyone that wanted to stay out of the war. Families paid most of the cost, because it was to help keep their boys home. So many men went to school that they had to create courses to put them in; you could get a degree in pot making, of just about anything they could think of. This was the start of the liberal way of thinking. The students decided they wanted to run the schools, and they protested everything. We had Kent State shooting and many more riots at college campuses. One thing was different then; People were willing to pay for their kid’s education.
Now we want to open our schools to the world, kids from all over the world, how do we educate them? We will have to have classes that cater to their way of life. How many of they classes will we have to have? Our schools are full now. Only one in twenty is paying for their classes, Grants, scholarships pay the rest. School loans, who is going to stand behind the loans for the dream kids? We will! Our taxes will have to foot the bill when they cannot pay them back. What happens when they cannot get jobs in this country and they go back home to make their living. People need to decide just how many of the illegal students they want their taxes going to.
Is it going to be worth destroying our education system to teach our way of life to the world, or are we going to have to teach them their way of life and we will have to follow or get left behind?
We need to let in only educated people into this country and have them follow all of our rules and laws. Other countries would not let them in.
Michael
September 17th, 2010
11:55 am
Has the Atlanta Journal-Constitution been losing readers due to their tone-deaf writers being so out of touch with the majority of the population which they serve? Since it is de facto the state paper of Georgia, which is a primarily conservative state politically and socially, how do they stay in business writing such drivel? Perhaps folks only subscribe to read about the Braves, Falcons, Hawks and College & High School Football?
JazzFan
September 17th, 2010
3:02 pm
I have no problem with these children attending school here, as long as their government (Mexican, Nigerian… whatever), not Uncle Sam, pay for their tuition, room & board, food, medical insurance down to the last dollar. Otherwise they should buy a one-way ticket and finish up their education back home.
PitchFork
September 19th, 2010
3:28 pm
The Dream Act should not be considered until AFTER the borders are tightly secured. President Reagen taught that valuable lesson to us when he signed his Amnesty for Illegals Act during his administration. He taught us that illegal behavior should never be rewarded and that includes taxpayer financed education benefits awarded to children of ILLEGAL immigrants. We are still “Paying the Piper” for his Amnesty Bill!
FW:
September 20th, 2010
3:31 pm
DREAM Act is only for those who were brought to the country at the age of 16 or younger. Most of these kids have grown in the US and most of them speak predominantly or only English. For most of those kids coming to this country illegally was not an option. Once they are grown, they have to decide to either stay here to support their families or go back to an unknown country full of violence and political problems.
They can become a great asset to this country because they have become part of it. Please support the Development, Relief and Education of Alien Minors (DREAM) Act which is amendment to the defense authorization bill.
Editorial Board Nationwide Support the DREAM Act « Reform Immigration For America
September 20th, 2010
4:17 pm
[...] Atlanta Journal Constitution (column) [...]
Carol
September 20th, 2010
4:33 pm
Times have changed and America needs to stop paying for foreigners who don’t respect our laws (identity theft, tax evasion, welfare fraud…). We cannot support the entire world, we need to choose: criminals or our own children. Please call your elected representatives and plead with them to stop this amnesty, because our President is going to try to push this through, maybe tomorrow.
Against Illegals
September 20th, 2010
11:02 pm
DREAM ACT are you kidding me. Let’s allow millions of ILLEGAL aliens in the system when it’s stressed already???? LEGAL AMERICANS can’t find jobs, but these illegal’s expect rights and jobs, and government assistance for college. GO HOME!! AMERICA is stressed out enough!! They are CRAZY and our government needs to show up at these rallies and such with busses headed to Mexico. Their audacity is AMAZING!! Illegals fighting for rights. GOOOOOO HHHOOOOOOMMMMEEEE!!!!!!! You are not Americans. You come from families of LAW BREAKING parents who have come here even though they were told not to! For 1 reason or another, immigrants are not allowed into this country(CRIMINAL HISTORY, OVERPOPULATION), but the first thing they did was to break our laws and came here anyways, had 8 babies each, on our tax dollars by the way, and expect us now to say OK we will pay for everything like they are Americans and have been PAYING TAXES their entire lives!! They have been criminals since day 1 and need to go home!! GET OVER IT AND GOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO HOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOME!