The Dream Act

The DREAM Act, which stands for Development Relief and Education of Alien Minors Act, is an American legislative proposal providing permanent residency to undocumented youth who entered the U.S. as children, graduated from U.S. high schools, and attend college or enter the military. Of the three million students that graduate from U.S. high schools every year approximately 65,000 students are exported back to the country where they came from. For many of these young people, the United States is the only home they know and English is their first language.This act will allow these minors to obtain citizenship with in ten years if they follow the steps in order to live the American dream.
The DREAM Act was pioneered by Senator Orin Hatch and Senator Richard Durbin and was introduced to the senate on August 1, 2001. It was originated by Representative Luis Gutiérrez as the "Immigrant Children's Educational Advancement and Dropout Prevention Act of 2001". Since then Senators Hatch and Durbin have created the known DREAM Act. Although it has been reviewed and revised in 2007 and in 2010, it still hasn’t obtained the needed votes to in order to pass. The requirements for this act are as followed; you must have proof of entering the U.S. before age sixteen, you must be between the ages of twelve and thirty-five, you must be able to prove five years of presence in the United States prior to the bill’s passage, you must obtain a G.E.D. or high school diploma, and you must be of good moral character. Both positive and negative aspects can arise from this Act.
A positive aspect of the DREAM Act is some say that it could lead to economic growth in our country. Immigrant workers, like all workers, spend their wages in U.S. businesses—buying food, clothes, appliances, cars, etc.—which sustains the jobs of the workers employed by those businesses. The end result is more jobs for more workers. I do not agree with this statement and believe just the opposite. These immigrants have not paid taxes for all the years they have lived here, which hurts our economy, so even if the economic growth is factual, it is just making up for the money we lost while they were undocumented.
I believe the negatives of this act out weigh the positives. For starters, the Dream Act is unfair to Americans. The Act will be funded on the backs of hard working, law-abiding Americans and will increase the levels of unemployment due to the addition of workers to the workforce. It is also unfair to young American citizens entering college because it lowers their chances of getting in and the illegal aliens will receive greater federal student loans, federal work study programs, and other forms of financial aid. Additionally, the Act can potently be dangerous for Americans considering that certain criminal aliens will be eligible for amnesty because the Act allows applicants that have been convicted of 1 felony or up to 3 misdemeanors. Furthermore, the dream act doesn’t even require the aliens to finish any type of degree; they just are required to spend two years at a college or in the military. If they complete those two years and drop out, they still will obtain citizenship, which is ridiculous. The major issue I have with the DREAM Act is that I believe the illegal immigrants should not be allowed citizenship just by fitting certain criteria. They are illegal. They came into our country behind our governments back, and should be deported right back to where they came from. Although it is sad considering some children do not even know they are illegal immigrants, the fact of the matter is that they are still illegal. If they would like to become citizens then they should have to go through the process just like everyone else.
Information found from: http://www.immigrationpolicy.org/issues/DREAM-Act