“The Dream Act Should be a No-Brainer,” claims the headline of a Washington Post article by Edward Schumacher- Matos.
I nod my head in agreement as I read on. Why shouldn’t Congress pass the DREAM Act (Development Relief and Education for Alien Minors), which would offer a path to citizenship to the high achieving children of illegal immigrants?
To qualify, these children would have had to have entered the U.S. at less than 15 years of age, been here five years, graduated from high school and have either joined the military or completed two years of college.
Sounds fair. After all, the immigrant children did not break the law; their parents did. But the issue is by no means a “no-brainer.” It is as complicated as it is controversial.
In short, is the DREAM Act, which passed the House last month but was defeated in the Senate, a fair break for immigrant kids, or just another amnesty?
“An amnesty,” claims incoming House Judiciary Committee chairman, Lamar Smith, R-Texas. “Until we secure our borders, such legislation will only encourage more illegal immigration.”
Smith, an archconservative with whom I would form few alliances, has a point. Since 1986, there have been seven different amnesty bills passed under the pressure of pro-immigration liberals, and pro-“cheap labor” business owners.
These bills, all of which contained measures to tighten the border and discourage more undocumented crossings, in fact did just the opposite. Each year from 1986 until the recent recession, the undocumented percentage of our foreign-born population has increased steadily.
I am one of those “rare bird” liberals who is also an anti-population-growth activist. I see no reason why the U. S. population has to grow from the present 310 million to close to a half-billion by 2050. By then, our population will gobble up our open space and consume 26 percent of the world’s total resources. And we will grow to that astounding number if we don’t initiate strict limits on both illegal and legal immigration.
However, I believe it is possible to be strongly for immigrant children and staunchly against increased immigration.
A poll last fall revealed that 62 percent of Americans, including 42 percent of liberals, support stronger border controls.
Yet, a just-published Gallup Poll reveals that 54 percent of Americans support the DREAM Act.
I recently talked with former Colorado state Sen. Polly Baca about the bill. Baca, also co-chair of the Colorado Latino Forum, is adamant:
“We have already invested in these kids through our public schools. We should get a return on our investment by encouraging the smart and ambitious ones to realize their dreams. Our country needs its youth to be college-educated and employable. And our military is suffering from the lack of qualified young people joining up.”
Other diverse people and groups that support the DREAM Act range from liberal congresspersons to the U.S. Chamber of Commerce to former Secretary of State Colin Powell and Defense Secretary Robert Gates.
Though not agreeing for a minute that the DREAM Act is a “no-brainer,” my brain and my heart come down on the side of its passage.
Many of us, liberal and conservative alike, bemoan the fact that the high school dropout rate for Hispanic youth exceeds 50 percent. The DREAM Act cannot help but produce role models of accomplishment for these youth.
The DREAM Act will strengthen our country and our citizenry. And, although technically an “amnesty,” I don’t believe it will be that strong an incentive for undocumented workers.
An illegal immigrant who tries to sneak over the border with a babe in arms or children in tow is not thinking college; he/she is thinking jobs. If we really want to stop the illegal crossings, we should pass and enforce stringent employer sanctions. We should not start enforcement with the kids.
Dottie Lamm, former first lady of Colorado and 1998 Democratic U.S Senate candidate, is a volunteer tutor for Somali immigrant children. She writes for the op-ed page the second Sunday of each month.
