The Necessity of the DREAM Act
In August of 2001, Republican Senator Orrin Hatch introduced the first iteration of the Development, Relief, and Education for Alien Minors Act (or, the DREAM Act). It was intended to be a companion bill of sorts to his party-mate Senator Chris Cannon’s Student Adjustment Act of 2001, which had been introduced a few months before. The Student Adjustment Act of 2001 was meant to amend the Illegal Immigration Reform and Immigrant Responsibility Act of 1996 so that undocumented immigrants would be eligible for higher education benefits such as in-state tuition in the same way as documented residents of the state in which they lived, and to amend the Immigration and Nationality Act to give permanent resident status to middle or high school students who grew up in the United States, which would qualify them for both Federal and State assistance funds for higher education (Student Adjustment Act, 2001). Hatch’s version of the bill was introduced to Senate and the House of Representatives over and over in the years to come (it was reintroduced in the 108th, 109th, and the 110th Congress) and was tacked on as an amendment to many other bills related to immigration at the time, including the Comprehensive Immigration Reform Acts of 2006 and 2007.
In 2007, Democratic Senator Richard Durbin made a move to add the DREAM Act onto the 2008 Department of Defense Authorization Bill – an action which generated much controversy at the time. Opponents of the DREAM Act as it was written at the time were under the impression that the bill made it mandatory for all states to give in-state tuition to DREAM Act beneficiaries unilaterally. In reality, the DREAM Act was written only allow them to do this if they chose. In-sta...
... middle of paper ...
...-0-10948.html
Infographic: The 12 States with the Greatest Economic Impact from Passing the DREAM Act. (2012, October 1). Center for American Progress. Retrieved April 4, 2014, from http://www.americanprogress.org/issues/immigration/news/2012/10/01/39586/infographic-the-12-states-with-the-greatest-economic-impact-from-passing-the-dream-act/
Odeja, R. H., Takash, P. C., Castillo, G., Flores, G., Monroy, A., & Sargeant, D. (2010, December 1). No DREAMers Left Behind: The Economic Potential of DREAM Act Beneficiaries. No DREAMers Left Behind: The Economic Potential of DREAM Act Beneficiaries. Retrieved April 1, 2014, from http://naid.ucla.edu/uploads/4/2/1/9/4219226/no_dreamers_left_behind.pdf
Plyler v. Doe. 102 S.Ct. 2382. (1982). Retrieved from WestLaw Academic Database.
Student Adjustment Act of 2001. H.R.1918. 107th Congress. (2001.) Retrieved from THOMAS Database.
One of the hot topics of debate going on in the U.S. today that presidential candidates are talking about is college tuition. Some have revealed their proposals to American citizens on how they would tackle the issue of tuition. The question is which one of the many proposals will work and limit the amount of people who don’t go to college and give them a reason to go. The tuition issue is not a case by case problem, but a national problem. While there are some who have the opportunity to attend college others are not as fortunate. But everyone can have a part in shaping the future for many generations to come. The objective is to find a way to make what some would call “college free”to everyone. How were we able to find a way to make public
Wooldridge’s editorial is one of the controversial discussions both at the congress level and the country at large. This argument is one of those that thwart or impede the implementation of the DREAM Act which is to help the children of undocumented immigrants to enjoy some privileges such as obtaining in-state tuition and others.
If economists took one thing away from the Great Depression, it should be that losing billions of dollars in a short amount of time causes colossal problems. Everyday in America that is precisely what continues to happen. One day the country will pay for it, but until then, America continues to limp along. The statistics of how much America actually spends could cause even Bill Gates to take a step back. In an article in The Atlanta Journal and Constitution, the situation is summed up quite horrifyingly: “The U.S. Census Bureau just released 2008 figures showing the national average total per-pupil funding from all revenue sources was $12,028” (Izumi). The article goes on to calculate that “if one multiplies $12,028 by the roughly 3.7 million students [almost all living in Texas and California] with illegal-immigrant parents, then one gets a national total funding cost of $44.5...
For the purpose of this paper, the American Dream will be defined as the idea that you can achieve financial stability through hard work, which often means going to college. The term “college” refers to any undergraduate or graduate program at a secondary institution. This paper aims to examine the relationship between attending college and one’s ability to achieve the American Dream. Attending college is thought to be an important step in obtaining the American Dream, primarily because receiving a higher level of education tends to lead to a higher paying job and furthermore a financially stable future. However, this isn’t always the case due to an increase in the need for students to take out loans and increase their debt in order to afford college expenses.
The lives of millions of immigrants are affected everyday due to limited access to acquiring legal citizenship. Out of that group there are 2.1 million children and young adults under the age of 18 that are eligible for permanent citizenship at this time (The DREAM Act). In 2001 Dick Durbin and Orrin Hatch presented a Development Relief and Education of Alien Minors (DREAM) Act that provides a path to becoming a legal citizen. The DREAM Act has yet to be passed, but there is a temporary Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA)(The DREAM Act). The DREAM Act will provide options and opportunities for people to continue their path of life in America. The DREAM Act should be passed as it will benefit our economy, positively affect and strengthen our military, along with increased access to education.
Orrenius, Pia M., and Madeline Zavodny. "The Economic Consequences Of Amnesty For Unauthorized Immigrants." CATO Journal 32.1 (2012): 85-106. Academic Search Complete. Web. 4 Nov. 2013.
Taking U.S citizens rights away or is it just an opportunity to illegal aliens? This is one of the many arguments people have been stating about the dream act. This program was passed to help illegal immigrants grow in education. It was not to acquire U.S citizen’s rights, in fact it was passed because many immigrants want to give back to the country that has offered them many things. This program also known as DACA was proposed by the president Barack Obama and has been applied to many illegal immigrants since 2010. It is an aid for immigrant students that want to go top college and stay in school. Being part of the Dream Act is not giving illegal aliens U.S citizen’s rights, it is allowing young immigrants to have the opportunity to get an education and succeed in life.
The United States is in the midst of a major debate over immigrants and their place in our economic and political life. As during other times in our history, immigrants, are being blamed for causing or contributing to the social, economic and political ills of our society. Politicians from both major parties, at both the national and state levels, are promoting a range of punitive legislative proposals that single out immigrants for adverse treatment by the government. Many violate basic civil liberties principles.
The DREAM Act legislation should pass and become a law; in a way this will be beneficial for both parties involved, for the young immigrants and for the U.S. If this is not possible an alternative should be sought out. The DREAM Act could be embedded into a comprehensive immigration reform, or the government can look to give the dreamers and other immigrant’s temporary legal status. “The Development, Relief and Education for Alien Minors Act would offer the undocumented youth the chance at legal reside...
Capps, Randy, Michael Fix, Julie Murray, Jason Ost, Jeffery S. Passle, and Shinta Herwantoro. "THE NEW DEMOGRAPHY Immigration and the No Child Left Behind Act." Ed.gov. The Urban Institute, n.d. Web. 4 Mar. 2014
Currently, there are 11.7 million undocumented immigrants in the United States; 6 million of those immigrants are Mexican-born (Preston). Within that undocumented population are individuals who were brought to the States as children. These individuals have grown up in the American culture and consider themselves American, but struggle with being treated as second class citizens due to their undocumented status. On June fifteenth of 2012, the Obama Administration announced the executive order Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA). This order will allow immigrants who were brought illegally to the U.S. as children to apply for work permits and avoid deportation (Hennessey and Bennett). President Obama’s Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals is not only beneficial to it applicants but also to the United States as a whole.
America is in a Great Recession, and the American Dream seems to be dying (if not already dead) for many Americans. I don’t think that the American Dream is dead; it just needs rehabilitation due to the injuries it sustained at the hands of an unregulated government. Though we are in a Great Recession, every American can progress their lives for the betterment of themselves and future generations. Brandon King (2011) in The American Dream: Dead, Alive, or on Hold? : “.the most worrisome problem is inequality: that wealth is concentrated into the hands of a rich minority.” Because of this, many Americans and politicians are arguing about either “raising the taxes on the rich” or “supporting the richest sectors in America” (Thomas, 2011) to stimulate the economy.
Wolf, Patrick. "Lost Opportunities: lawmakers threaten D.C scholarships despite evidence of benefits." Unabridged version of article published in education next 9:4 (2009): 1-15.
Lynch, R., & Oakford, P. (2013, March 30). The Economic Effects of Granting Legal Status and Citizenship to Undocumented Immigrants. American Progress. Retrieved July 2, 2014, from http://americanprogress.org/issues/immigration/report/2013/03/20/57351/the-economic-effects-of-granting-legal-status-and-citizenship-to-undocumented-immigrants/
The most detrimental factor of the fallen American Dream is due to the collapsing economy, and as the economy collapses, it drags American opportunity down with it. The Dream has always been closely associated with economic stability, something that seems unobtainable in today’s generation. We emphasize the importance of college education in order to find stable careers, but, “there are no jobs! And the few jobs that are available, don’t pay a living wa...