FORT COLLINS, Colo – We all have dreams. For some, its money and fame, but for others, an education is all they seek. Thousands of students graduate from high school in the United States each year, and nearly 12% of that population is undocumented. They are students without an identity, but with a common goal. Their students dreaming for a dream.
The Development Relief and Education for Alien Minors (DREAM) Act is aimed at providing certain “inadmissible or deportable alien students” who graduate from U.S. high schools the opportunity for legal permanent residency. Those who are of good moral character, arrived in the U.S. as minors, and have been in the country continuously for at least five years prior to the bill's enactment, have the opportunity to earn conditional permanent residency if they complete two years in the military or two years at a four year institution of higher education. It is providing a venue of education to students all over the country not available before, even to those in our own community.
Cristal Silerio is a front desk student clerk at El Centro, which is an organization that seeks to help Latino students get through college as well as provide a familiar avenue for which they can get to know more students. Silerio has a 3.4 GPA and has two jobs to help out her parents as well as try her best to pay for most of her school.
“We work hard for what we have. Nothing is given to us for free, and sometimes we even have to work harder just to get the same opportunities’ as others. That’s what’s not right! Not me being here, but the inequality,” Silerio said.
With the enactment of this bill Silerio would have the opportunity to receive government financial aid and the availability of many more resources to further aid her already successful educational career.
“ All I want is to get and education like everyone else, I have a right to that too,” Silerio says.
On the other hand, many believe that this bill is encouraging illegal immigration and is rewarding individuals and their parents for breaking the law.
“We don’t want to be giving out a message that makes our country seem like a hypocrite to its own agendas. Yes! We encourage strict boarder restrictions, but if you’ve already broken the law, then I guess, don’t do it again and here’s a passport while you’re at it,” says Stephan Woodruff sarcastically.
Stephan is a junior criminal justice major and grew up in Fort Lupton, Colorado, where he says the majority of his high school is of Hispanic decent.
“I am not at all racist, most of my friends are Hispanic. I just don’t think it’s the best thing for our country,” says Woodruff.
“States are encouraging aliens to violate federal immigration law. Indeed, in some of the states, breaking federal law is an express prerequisite to receive the benefit of in-state tuition rates. Those states expressly deny in-state tuition to legal aliens who have valid student visas. And in all 10 states, an alien is eligible for in-state tuition rates only if he remains in the state in violation of federal law and evades federal law enforcement. In this way states are directly rewarding this illegal behavior,” Woodruff read.
It is a debate on whether basic human civil rights overcome nation federal laws. Who gets to justify the right to an education?
Many people who came to this country on the American dream are being forced to wake-up and realize that that may not be possible anymore.
I really liked this story. Lots of buzz is made about the immigration issue, but I rarely hear any ideas on how to fix it. I would have advised more elaboration as to what "moral character" means, however. Morality in general is a very gray area and often citizens of every race with a clean record are just citizens who haven't been caught. I understand that this would be difficult to prove and I still understood the gist of character. All in all, very enlightening piece with interesting quotes. Maybe avoid hypothetical questions, too.
ReplyDeleteThis is a really interesting topic, and you did a great job at presenting both sides of the issue, without showing any bias. I really like the lead of this story, as it calls on the common motif of someone with a dream, as well as making reference to the DREAM Act that you discuss later. The one thing in the lead is that you could try to condense it to one to two sentences. I also like your resources. They give the point of view of someone actually experiencing the effects of the DREAM Act, which gives extra depth to the story.
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