DREAM Act for California Immigrant Students Gets Push
New America Media, News Report, Seth Sandronsky , Posted: Feb 05, 2010
“In dreams, immigration officials rushed in and arrested me,” said Ju H. “I woke up sweating. My heart was pounding.”
Eyes tearing, the 20-year-old immigrant without citizenship documents from South Korea and current community college student in the San Francisco Bay Area continued telling his story to advocates, lawmakers and students at a crowded Capitol summit in Sacramento on Wednesday.
He described barriers to federal and state help for himself and others like him seeking education at four-year institutions. The walls to such schooling would fall with passage of the federal Development, Relief, and Education for Alien Minors (DREAM) Act, first introduced in Congress in 2001.
The bipartisan legislation was re-introduced in March 2009 in the 111th Congress as S. 729 and H.R. 1751. This proposed bill would allow tens of thousands of students whose undocumented parents brought them to the United States, where they grew up, attended schools and worked, to access many forms of financial aid to achieve the “American Dream” of gaining a higher education degree and securing stable employment afterwards.
For example, the DREAM Act would amend current federal immigration law and allow states to grant residency status to undocumented youth who have graduated from high school. This, in turn would qualify such students for state college tuition, less costly than what non-residents pay.
In addition, the DREAM Act would allow these students to receive federal grants and be eligible for work-study programs at higher education institutions.
Speakers at the summit made clear the political obstacles to passing the DREAM Act.
“Today is a time of fierce anti-immigrant hysteria,” said State Senator Gilbert Cedillo (D-LA). “But I have optimism in spite of this with President Obama who ran on a platform of hope and change, plus a business community that understands the vital role of immigrants in the state economy.”
The expansion of an educated American work force itself is a policy of economic stimulus, the president has said.
Cedillo and his fellow lawmakers at the DREAM Act summit drew parallels between the Civil Rights Movement of the 1950s and 1960s, which overcame discrimination against African Americans to the passage of the DREAM Act today.
“This is a continuing movement for civil rights,” said State Assemblymember Warren Furutani (D-Long Beach). State Senator Curren Price (D-LA), concurred with Cedillo and Furutani, noting the urgent need to remove barriers to higher education for undocumented students.
The College Board Advocacy & Policy Center, and the Latino, Black and Asian Pacific Islander Legislative caucuses, sponsored the DREAM Act summit in Sacramento. According to the College Board, 65,000 undocumented students graduate from high schools across the nation each year. In California alone, there are an estimated 26,000 undocumented youth, according to a 2006 Pew Foundation study.
They need allies to improve their educational opportunities after high school, said Kent Wong, an attorney, UCLA professor and director of the Center for Labor Research and Education. “These students were brought to this country through no decision of their own by parents and relatives looking for a better life,” he said.
The arc Wong described fits the life of Ju H. His mother, after a bankruptcy and divorce in South Korea, brought his sister and him to America nine years ago. He is studying political science and hopes to attend UC Berkeley in the future.
With the state budget deficit growing after the housing crash due to falling property and sales tax revenues, California lawmakers have hiked fees by double digits for students in the UC and California State University systems. With these costs rising, the dream of attending a state college or university could be fading fast for undocumented students with high school diplomas.
“We need your help in leadership roles to help us pass the DREAM Act in 2010,” said Ju H.
Seth Sandronsky lives and writes in Sacramento. Contact sandronsky@yahoo.com.
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User Comments
ssenriaf on Feb 10, 2010 at 08:30:47 said:
l00ker:
Black people weren't always citizens and the women's suffrage movement was intensely tied to black women's suffrage in the early 20th century. If you feel so proud of the rights and opportunities that you've inherited through the struggles of those that came before you, consider the struggles of others in the present with a bit more empathy.
The fact that these people don't have legal rights in our country does not validate your broad generalizations about illegal immigrants being reckless criminals; saying that they "break every law" opens the door to speculating about other groups' contributions to American society. If I bluntly take facts out of context, I can cite broad statistics about the rate of black men in prisons, black high-school drop outs, teen pregnancy rates, the percentage of blacks on welfare etc. etc.
And if I were to follow your logic - who's really burdening the nation?
The D.R.E.A.M act is a special proposal to help a small group of illegal aliens who were brought into the country as children, grew up here, assimilated and ultimately grant a path to citizenship for those who fulfill the provisions of the act.
To deny these Americanized students a way to a future that they worked towards on the basis of a crime that their parents committed is equivalent to charging a child who was with their parent when the parent committed any other crime, like theft. Like it or not, these students are here.
l00ker on Feb 07, 2010 at 11:07:36 said:
Below is an illustration of not having an argument to stand on, and not having an inkling of knowledge about American economic history.
Avatar on Feb 06, 2010 at 21:24:03 said:
Get ready my Anti-immigrant friends. The new wave of Foreclosures of Commercial Business and Properties are coming. God forbid! After that you may have to migrate to Mexico. Save American business by letting 30 million immigrant consumers in the United States. If you let go these vast majorities of people our business will cripple so much, it will take centuries to build Great America we have seen.
l00ker on Feb 06, 2010 at 19:06:31 said:
Kick ourselves out? This is our country; and oh yeah, our paperwork is in order, and that means that we can throw out the trash.
Sera on Feb 06, 2010 at 14:21:17 said:
This people talk out of their..whatever..they do not do any research or don't know anything about greencard or the process of getting a citizenship.
These illegal immigrants are already living in this country. doesnt matter if you will give them the papers or not. However, if you give them their permit to stay here legally, they will start to pay their taxes which is going to help your economy! Think logically! and when it comes to take jobs from Americans, they are already taken! They get paid under table without you knowing it.
Think why your great-grandfathers came to this country. they came here to have a better life. These people are doing the same thing. Do you think they enjoy staying here illegally? Some of them do not see their families, friends for yeaarrrs!
You should be proud that these people are trying to become one of you guys. They are willing to leave their countries to be here. Can't you see the sacrifice there? Try to put yourselves in their shoes and do not tell me that "I would try to do anything to get legalized" because there is no way! research on that! other than getting married, there is no other way! Some of these people were brought here without their will when they were infants. Can you imagine when you reach the age of 16, your parents tell you that you cant get a license like your other friends because you don't have the papers? What would you do? Would you pack and move to a country you never been to? if you say yes, you are a liar!
I want to end with a beautiful quote from White Stripes in Icky Thump "Why don't you kick yourself out, you are an immigrant, too!" oh yeaaaa
l00ker on Feb 06, 2010 at 08:43:21 said:
These illegal alien parasites pay little or no taxes, drain our social and welfare services, depress job wages, increase strain on our infrastructure, and break every law ( like ID theft and hit and run vehicular homicide ) in order to stay here. Immigrants who come here legally are defacto citizens, all others need to make an about face. Okay Pedro.
nativessayno on Feb 05, 2010 at 22:43:32 said:
“I woke up sweating. My heart was pounding.”... purple prose anyone?
I agree with 100ker. The so-called dreamer's agenda is that we cough up the "rights" for them to get preferential,lower rates/tuition and will fume if everyone does not concur.
Cedillo "cites discrimination fierce anti immigrant hysteria"...what? Evidence please.
Co-opting African Americans centuries old legacy of servitude and bondage and harrowing fights for freedom is comparable to not being entitled to cheaper college tuition?
To remind you "scholar" dreamers; this is what African American (that lived here for centuries) struggle actually looked like 40 years ago:
As the (Freedom) Riders exited the bus, they were mercilessly beaten by the mob with baseball bats, iron pipes and bicycle chains. Southern mobs enacted verifiable, cruel and actual hysteria. This illustrates a bona fide and actual dramatic struggle.
Your struggle claim....not so much...or at all. This is really a mini-amnesty ploy. Get your foot in the door and other amnesty benefits will accrue and follow for you and your extended family etc.
US citizen's footing more bills for persons that are technically foreign nationals?
Your case is impassioned no doubt but fails to convince that it is merit-worthy. You feel these demands are your "right". Many disagree...let's see how the bill does.
Pedro on Feb 05, 2010 at 20:19:24 said:
First of all, we didn't steal ANY taxpayer dollars. We also contribute to uncle sam. Furthermore, African Americans were not always citizens. White people back then put their hinds on the line to get you your freedom. Don't you think it would be a generous thing to do the same to another struggling group? Especially a group which has had no choice about their situation, just like African Americans. Remember the DREAM Act only helps out certain undocumented immigrants.
katy orson on Feb 05, 2010 at 18:43:43 said:
Everyone living here in the US once had a family member be an immigrant to this country. It is not fair to deny citizenship only because they did not arrive here since the beginning. People need to stop being selfish and not share what this great country has to offer. Also to clarify, "illegal immigrants" DO pay taxes and get NOTHING in return. Please, do some research before putting people down. They are one of the most hard working people. They take jobs that citizens do not want to do. This country would be nothing without immigrants.
Dave A on Feb 05, 2010 at 11:24:37 said:
"immigrant without citizenship documents" They are illegal aliens, immigrants have papers, otherwise they are NOT immigrants and have no right to a tax-payer funded education. They can't work here after graduation so there is no point in giving them preferential treatment. Our veterans don't even get these benefits. It's a sad era when people can break our laws and then have the nerve to demand special tuition breaks. If they have graduated from public high schools, they have stolen enough from us taxpayers already.
l00ker on Feb 05, 2010 at 06:13:30 said:
You grifters and border criminals need leave black people out of your marxist schemes. The only time you mention black people is when you want to attach yourselves to and co-op our struggles, yet you act so proud and dismissive of us any other time, so fight your own battles. The differences between black people and you border criminals are that we are citizens, we speak the language, our folks paid the dues for the rest of us before hand, and we are 100% loyal to our country. So keep dreaming.
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