Last Friday, there was a group a of students who held a demonstration on Ho Plaza to show support for the currently pending DREAM (Development, Relief, and Education for Alien Minors) Act, which is essentially a bill that would provide financial aid to the children of illegal immigrants. Jeff Sessions, the ranking Republican on the Senate Judiciary Committee has issued a document titled “Ten Things You Need to Know About the DREAM Act,” which shows why conservatives in the Senate are ready to oppose the bill’s passage. Among the concerns are the use of public dollars for non-citizens, the potential for criminals to be eligible for the program, and the ability of eligible individuals to sponsor their parents and relatives for immigration to the United States.
The last point stems from the fact that the legislation would allegedly give those eligible the same rights as American citizens. This would automatically allow them to sponsor family members in the immigration process. I expressed opposition to this bill last spring on the Insider when President Skorton endorsed it.
At this point, however, I am unsure that outright opposition is wise stance for a myriad of reasons. Having such a program could provide an effective means of assimilation. The program already has a provision that will help those eligible learn English. It also provides for a rigorous pathway to citizenship that is much more involved than what would be considered pure amnesty. From a general perspective, providing opportunity to the children of illegals will help them integrate into the mainstream of American society economically. This is an important point as ethnic groups do not gain access to the cultural mainstream of America until they attain middle class economic status on aggregate. Since the nature of this program will cause it to mostly target Hispanics, the DREAM Act may go a long way in helping that demographic fully integrate into American society. Overall, the DREAM Act has a lot of potential to serve as a first step toward a comprehensive immigration solution and stem the cultural Balkanization of American society.
The Republicans desire to block the bill is not a good idea for reasons just described. There are times when pure opposition is a good thing, but this is not one of them. The Republicans ought to consider working so that there are ironclad provisions that will ensure those who participate in the program learn English, and have a pathway to citizenship that involves lessons regarding American history, the Founding Fathers, the Constitution, etc. If they can guarantee these, they should vote for the bill.
My apologies to the proponents of deportation. I am not a fan of the idea.
I agree. I think that passing the DREAM Act would at least be a step in the right direction toward comprehensive immigration reform. People need to start realizing that the deport-all and open-the-flood-gates philosophies are both incredibly flawed and that the immigration issue is more complicated than that. JPMITB labels this post as “money in the bank.”
You’ve got to remember the other part of the Act, though: it will allow illegal aliens to become citizens if they serve two years in the military. I’m not sure I want to entrust our nation’s security to people who are merely using it as a means to gain citizenship.
I’m not totally against the education part of the DREAM Act, but there are negative side-effects to pursuing this course of action. If the bill is passed, many people will go to college not because they are pursuing a career that requires a college education, but because they want to become citizens. We’ll have a repeat of what happened after the GI Bill: many people will go to college who don’t need to, tuition rates will increase, and useless majors will proliferate.