APLEblog.com

As the story of Eric Balderas, the 19-year-old Harvard biology student who was arrested for being in the United States unlawfully, permeated the headlines this week, the plight of the children of undocumented immigrants has gained the spotlight.  But the plight of these children may be different from that of their parents.

As states such as Arizona and Massachusetts struggle to deal with the problem of illegal immigration with restrictive legislation, the children of undocumented immigrants hope to avoid the climate of hostility their parents face with the passage of a law they say embodies their dreams – the American dream – known as the DREAM Act.

Under the DREAM Act, undocumented immigrant students with good moral character who came to the U.S. at age 15 or younger, at least 5 years before the date of the bill’s enactment, would qualify for conditional permanent resident status upon acceptance to college, graduation from a U.S. high school, or being awarded a GED.  Applicants must be 35 years old or younger.

At the end of the 6 year conditional period, the applicant will be granted unrestricted, lawful, permanent resident status, if during the conditional period, the applicant maintained good moral character, and met at least one of the following criteria:

• Graduated from a 2 year college, vocational college, or studied for at least 2 years toward a B.A. or higher degree; or
• Served in the U.S. armed forces for at least 2 years.

Supporters of the bill say that the children of undocumented immigrants should not be penalized for the choices their parents made. “We are talking about children,” said Noah Brown, president and chief executive officer of the Association of Community College Trustees (ACCT). “Punishing them doesn’t honor our American values. They didn’t do anything wrong so why should they be punished?”

Opponents argue that the DREAM Act would grant amnesty to the estimated 2.5 million undocumented immigrants under the age of 18 thereby crowding out U.S. citizens from the colleges and jobs of their choice. They say it will encourage a greater influx of immigrants to the United States. They say it will put these undocumented immigrants at the head of the line by providing them with a path to citizenship that is too easy and automatic.  They also say that the bill should only be enacted as part of a comprehensive immigration reform.

The bill, which has been introduced in the House and Senate in various forms since 2001, and attached to other failed immigration-related bills, including the Comprehensive Immigration Reform Acts of 2006 and 2007, has consistently failed to garner enough support for it to become law.

There are an estimated 65,000 undocumented young people graduating from American high schools each year and an estimated 5 to 10 percent go onto college. A 1982 Supreme Court decision guarantees these students receive K-12 public education, but there is no such protection for higher education.