Social Justice and alternative aid

How does the DREAM Act relate to social justice?

The DREAM Act is a form of transformative justice. It is a small step towards systematic change. A much bigger step would be to find a way to remove the systematic effects of globalization that provide economic and political motives for people to enter the U.S. illegally or overstay their visas, bringing their children with them. Suggestions for accomplishing this are complicated and in many cases unrealistic. The DREAM Act, on the other hand, offers some relief and hope to undocumented students in this situation. It is the ONLY hope for undocumented students to remain in the United States and gain legal status to be eligible for some forms of federal financial aid for higher education and eventually legal employment.

Without the DREAM Act, undocumented students may still pursue higher education. Washington State passed H.B. 1079 in 2003 which allows undocumented students to qualify for in-state tuition rates by signing an affidavit stating they have lived in the state for at least three years prior to graduating high school or earning a GED. About 10 other states have similar laws.

What is the DREAM Act?

The Development, Relief, and Education for Alien Minors (DREAM) Act or American DREAM Act are both attributed to legislation which grants undocumented students who have grown up in the United States, studied hard and stayed out of trouble, an opportunity to gain temporary legal residency. In the U.S. Senate, the bill is known as S. 729, and in the House of Representatives, H.R.1751.

To be eligible, students must:

• Have lived in the U.S. for at least 5 years
  
• Have been brought to the U.S. before the age of 16
• Be of good moral character (a legal status meaning they have not committed any of a long list of crimes)

Once granted temporary legal residency, students have six years to:

• Graduate from a two-year college or
• Complete two years towards a four-year degree or
• Serve in the U.S. military for two years

Upon completion of one of the three above specifications, students are eligible to apply for permanent legal residency (and citizenship).

For more information, visit Latino/a Educational Achievement Project's FAQ:
http://www.leapwa.org/dream_faqs.htm

Or Wikipedia's entry:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/DREAM_Act

Why should I support the DREAM Act?

The DREAM Act is the only way for undocumented students to remain in the U.S. and gain any kind of legal residency which could result in legal employment in the United States.

Without the DREAM Act some undocumented students are able to struggle through college without legal residency, but even if they are able to earn a degree, they are unable to be legally employed because of their residency status.

According to the National Immigration Law Center, "a RAND study showed a 30-year-old Mexican immigrant woman who graduates from college will pay $5,300 more in taxes and cost $3,900 less in government expenses each year than if she had dropped out of high school." That's over $9,000 per year that can be used for other purposes. Giving motivated students the opportunity to pursue higher education also yields a larger more diverse group of skilled workers who may bring the added value of bilingualism in greater numbers to the educated American workforce.

A student's story

I first became interested in the issue of undocumented students pursuing higher education and work while listening to an episode of This American Life on National Public Radio. The episode, #329 Nice Work if You Can Get It, is divided into four acts. Act 4: Just One Thing Missing features an anonymous student telling the story of her dream to go to medical school to be a doctor and the realities of her status as an undocumented person who cannot get legal work of any kind in the United States, much less legally be granted federal financial aid to realize her dream. It seems unjust to me that a highly motivated student who is clearly earning her education and wants to serve her community cannot pursue her American dream because her parents chose to bring her here illegally when she was only a child. If she returns to Mexico (which she does not consider her home) and goes through the 5-10 year application process for a green card, chances are, she will be declined.

You can stream and listen to the whole episode from their website by clicking here and selecting the link called "Full Episode" (Act 4 begins at 46:20).


For more student stories, you can visit these pages:

The New America Foundation, Article: A Uniquely American DREAM
This article by Douglas McGray of the New America Foundation was published in the LA Times in 2007.

Dream Act 2009
This page has a petition to Congress to pass the DREAM Act as well as stories from undocumented students.

Support the DREAM Act Now

For those in Washington State, I recommend checking out the Latino/a Educational Achievement Project. Their website has the most information and suggestions for how to take action and support the DREAM Act in 20 minutes, as well as how to build institutional support.

According to their website, both of our Washington State Senators are co-sponsors of the DREAM Act, but not one of our 9 members of the House of Representatives are co-sponsors of H.R. 1751, the House version of the DREAM Act. If you are voting in Washington State and want to support the Dream ACT, you can use their tools to contact your representative. Look for the section towards the bottom of their page called "Here is how you can contact your representative in the Congress".

You can also sign an online petition to congress and find more information at:
http://dreamact2009.com/index.html

Want to take action outside of Washington State?
http://dreamact.info/

El Centro de la Raza

El Centro de la Raza acts as a hub for the Hispanic community providing not only services, but also networking for other opportunities. Their name roughly translated means The Center for People of All Races and the services they provide are available to anyone, and allow the people they serve to improve their situations. The hope is that anyone can come to El Centro with any problem and El Centro will have a program that can help them or they are able to refer them to a program outside El Centro that can. They offer human services that address issues of human suffering such as hunger, homelessness, and healthcare. Their child and youth services programs encourage growth and development in children and teens as well as offer support for parents. Their education and skill building programs empower adults to be independent and informed through education and skill building opportunities. Finally, their community building and development programs encourage civic participation, grassroots organizing and activism to advocate for human liberation on both the local and global levels.

A few weeks ago I went to interview an AmeriCorps volunteer at El Centro de la Raza on Beacon Hill. She is a recent SU graduate and works with their Hope for Youth program, helping high school age students prepare for college.

When asked about educational opportunities for undocumented students, she mentioned funding through private scholarships including those from the Seattle Central Community College Foundation which does not require students to have legal residency or citizenship status as part of the application process.

The DREAM Act is the only way she knows of for undocumented students to have an opportunity to get legal employment when they are done with school by providing them with temporary legal residency.