Another dream deferred
Carla Bradley
The Signal
Status. It can be everything to a college student. However, a certain group of underrepresented students, namely immigrants living undocumented in the U.S. are denied it in this country.
On Sept. 21, the U.S. Senate hindered voting on the defense authorization bill concerning undocumented immigrants, the Development, Relief and Education for Alien Minors Act, more commonly known as the DREAM Act, causing it to now become a ‘dream’ deferred.
If the DREAM Act had been signed into law, undocumented immigrants living in the U.S. would have had the opportunity to complete a minimum of either two years of post-secondary education or military service during the first six years of legal residence to become eligible for permanent residency status and qualify for a green card.
Since the U.S. Senate did not vote on the DREAM Act, DREAM activists are rallying as much support as they can get before it is presented again.
“Students who fit the DREAM Act criteria would have a pathway to citizenship, not to mention a chance to give back to society, pay social security and federal taxes, which in turn supplies money for things like medical services,” said Linda Contreras Bullock, assistant dean of student diversity. “If [immigrants] graduate from school or are willing to serve in the military, why can’t we give them the right to be citizens?”
The DREAM Act has been met with resistance largely by Republicans. It has been inactive since 2001 when Sen. Richard Durbin, D-Ill, and Orrin Hatch, R-Utah, first introduced it as a way bridge over current immigration holes.
Hatch withdrew his support for the DREAM Act because he does not agree that the DREAM Act bill is an appropriate addition to the defense authorization bill, but he would support it if it were to just stand on its own.
Republican critics of the act are concerned that the DREAM Act is a way to reward illegal delinquents with citizenship who have criminal pasts and work in the United States with falsified documents.
“The Act does not intend to reward ‘criminals,’” said Juan Ramirez, editor of the DREAM Act Portal. “It is just part of a comprehensive immigration reform approach that understands that border security is also important.”
The Federation For American Immigration Reform (FAIR) reports that the DREAM Act would cover up to 53 percent of undocumented immigrants under the age of 35.
“With the DREAM Act, we would be giving away higher education, in-state tuition, financial aid, federal grants and loans and scholarships to illegal aliens at the expense of U.S. citizens,” said Kristen Williamson, spokesperson of FAIR. “We are not trying to punish the children for the illegal acts of their parents, we are just not rewarding the illegal acts of their parents.”
In a study, “College Gender Gaps Appears to be Stabilizing with One Notable Exception, America Council on Education Analysis Finds,” the American Council on Education concluded immigration is a “key factor in the low educational performance among Hispanics, with significant differences in educational attainment rates between Hispanics born outside the United States compared with their U.S. born peers.”
“The act was not created for the purpose of helping the Hispanic population alone,” Ramirez said. “The act would benefit students that have come here from all over the world as children, not knowing of the consequences they later face in life as they try to go on to college or even have a job. The bill will [also] help students who have graduated from high school and plan to enroll in the military or college.”
On the U.S. Navy website, data from the Department of Defense stated that there are more than 65,000 immigrants (non-U.S. citizens and naturalized citizens) serving on active duty in the U.S. armed forces as of February 2008.
Senate majority leader, Harry Reid, who tried to push the act through by attaching it to the defense authorization bill, announced from the Senate floor his plans to keep the DREAM Act alive.
Attempts to contact Sen. Reid were rewarded with a transcript of what he said on the floor right after the vote.
“I also want everyone within the sound of my voice to know we’re going to vote on the ‘dream act,’ Reid said. “It’s only a question of when.”
“In our area, the University of Houston-Downtown and College of the Mainland, among other campuses, have active student groups working in support of the DREAM Act,” said Christine Kovic, assistant professor of anthropology. “UHD President William Flores spoke in favor of the passage of the DREAM Act this summer. In doing so, Flores joins the president of the University of Texas, William Powers, and many others.”
UHCL students are proposing to create a DREAM Act student organization. To find out more about joining, contact Linda Contreras Bullock at Bullock@uhcl.edu or Christine Kovic at Kovic@uhcl.edu.
This article begins with a painfully flawed premise: that international students are underrepresented. In the legistlatures of both the national and state government, in the administration of UHCL and in terms of services offered, International students receive a very fair shot. But on the basis of this shaky foundation, the article implies that because International students are not (by definition) citizens, their interests are not given deserved attention in Congress. Specifically, the article goes on to imply, these ‘undocumented students’ are not being heard. To Ms. Bradley, then, the failure to slip the DREAM Act into a defense bill along with the repeal of Don’t-Ask-Don’t-Tell shows the terrible deafness of Congress. Note the implication that some of the naturalized soldiers referenced on the Navy website are ‘undocumented.’ This is not the case. For obvious reasons the military requires citizenship in its members. Let me direct your attention to one more point: the sloppy use of the word ‘right’ by Ms. Bullock early on in the article. Consider what a right actually is and you will see the malapropism.
With this all in mind, let us move on to the Law of the Excluded Middle. Someone in the United States is either a criminal or not a criminal (~(~p)=>p), they cannot fall into some gray area. Someone who is in the United States in a way contrary to its laws is a criminal. We might consider them a less important criminal than a murderer and a more important criminal than a parking violator (although campus police seem to place that on the same line as murder), but they are a criminal nonetheless. They are a student by violation of the law – an illegal student. While it is true that using a sanitary word in the first paragraph of the article like ‘undocumented’ encourages the bourgeoisie to accept it (cf Hitler), we cannot use clever diction to avoid facts. The people this bill is seeking to reward are currently violating the law. There is no way around that, no matter what the DREAM Portal administrator may argue by rearranging words. Giving a privilege (note, not a right) to someone who broke the law which you do not extend to someone who is not a criminal is rewarding crime. It is plain why rewarding crime is not a wise course of action for a nation who hopes her laws will be obeyed. These non-citizens do not have a right to representation in Congress. Congress should hear the voices of Americans, not visitors. Can I visit Philidelphia and vote in their elections? Of course not! This is no different.
The DREAM Act, then, assumes that doing something noble cancels out a crime. Bettering yourself in school, serving in the military or paying your taxes should somehow absolve you of your past sins. Let us consider the logic of this: How many soup kitchens must a murderer serve in to be excused from serving prison time? The consequentialist might argue that there is a finite number of hungry children whose temporary happiness in eating equals the weight of assigning yourself godhood over another life, but more conventional moralities deny this (and with good reason!). We should reward students with a degree. We should reward military service men and women with pay and honor. We should not give a criminal a “Get out of jail free card,” citizenship and a degree. He has not undone the immorality of violating the law in the first place. We are not accountants, sliding ‘good behavior’ beans against the bad. If I murder someone and volunteer at a soup kitchen, you will thank me for feeding the children and send me to prison for murder. This is as it should be. Illegal immigration is no different.
Is comprehensive immigration reform necessary? Of course. At the Statue of Liberty’s feet is a poem I believe every American should know by heart. American law does not now reflect the spirit of this ancient principle. But the way is not to pretend that illegal students are entitled to citizenship, as this article clearly implies. It is to go out into the world, actively seeking to help those who would desire freedom to flood our shores through a process easy and plain. But we must draw a distinction between the ethical and the moral. The United States of America, with her great wealth, SHOULD help the suffering in the world. We are in no way obligated and we should not be pressured by those who have no right to a voice inside our sacred chambers of government. Every Senator’s responsibility is to represent his district and by extension the American People, not foreign nationals and their interests. Their oath of office clearly says as much. Oppose the DREAM Act, support reform which rewards truthfulness and integrity. If they respect their own interests over the laws of the United States before being citizens, why ought that change? Still:
“”Keep ancient lands, your storied pomp!” cries she
With silent lips. “Give me your tired, your poor,
Your huddled masses yearning to breathe free,
The wretched refuse of your teeming shore.
Send these, the homeless, tempest-tost to me,
I lift my lamp beside the golden door!” – Emma Lazarus