The DREAM Act could not have been more appropriately christened. Stuck in the whirring cog of bipartisan politics, the legislation has stagnated for over a decade in both the House and the Senate. What was recently announced as the Deferred Action Process for Young People was not the DREAM Act.

Under this process, qualifying applicants are only eligible for the typical two-year work card. Unlike the DREAM Act, Deferred Action will not provide a path to legalization. It will only allow qualifying applicants to legally work and pay taxes. That particular road ends there. Not exactly the reward for a group who, if deserving, should be given the opportunity to obtain that elusive legal status, which remains unchanged by a work permit.

The idea behind the DREAM Act is that children brought to this country, whether legally or illegally, were brought at the behest of their parents and not their own. It’s a simple enough argument: if a young child is brought across the border what say did he or she have at the time? Sometimes these children are brought as young as babies, are raised here for the vast majority of their lives, and are not even fluent in the language of their country of origin.

Sometimes they’re not aware of their lack of status. A social security number does not become a concern until certain milestones begin to appear: getting a first job, obtaining a license, going away for spring break, attending college. A college education can quickly become a pricey illusion, reserved for someone with a different type of birth certificate.

But I digress. The biggest deterrent for the DREAM Act is a factor that is in the very nature of the bill: it lies within the hazy realm of immigration politics. No other political topic can be so adversely affected by other issues in the way that immigration can be. The barometer of immigration can be placed in many fields—in the economy, in international relations, in the interests of big business, and in the murky waters of race politics. Shades of gray abound in this arena.

I am not by any means claiming objectivity here, but I will allege the persuasion of logic. It is hard to argue that laws were intentionally broken by babies and young children. It becomes even sillier to argue that they should be punished for the choices of others, namely their parents who, by the way, should hardly be demonized for trying to give their kids a chance.

I cannot see the harm in rewarding young adults for becoming educated members of society, or for choosing to serve in the armed forces of a nation they desperately wish to call their own.  A chance to allow determined spirits—with a clean criminal record—to legitimately work and pour money into a drained system can only work wonders. This is a system which, by the way, has already devoted many tax dollars towards the education and healthcare of this brood.

Let’s allow them to pay us back for a hefty sum that was—and continues to be—invested, throughout the span of (admittedly short) lifetimes. It only makes sense.

Image Courtesy of  spirit of america / Shutterstock.com

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Washington, U.S.A. - On 15 June the Obama administration announced a brazen usurpation of Congressional authority by using executive power to implement the DREAM Act. Effective immediately, the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) will grant deferred action and possible work authorization to certain illegal aliens under the age of 30 who arrived in the U.S. before 16 years of age. DHS Secretary Janet Napolitano expects that nearly 1 million illegal aliens will be granted amnesty through this effort.

“Over the past ten years, Congress has repeatedly rejected the DREAM Act. Now, five months before the presidential election, the Obama administration is unilaterally rewriting our immigration laws, defying Congressional authority and threatening our constitutional framework,” said Dan Stein, president of the Federation for American Immigration Reform (FAIR).

“This is a blatant abuse of executive power that ignores the will of Congress and the American people,” charged Stein.”The Obama administration is engaging in a shameless display of political pandering to satisfy a narrow slice of its party.

“Since taking office the President has slowly stripped away the federal government’s immigration enforcement authority and barred the states from effectively protecting Americans from the burden of illegal immigration,” continued Stein. “The consequence of these actions, and the Administration’s latest expansion of its backdoor amnesty strategy, is the shredding of the Constitution, a wholesale rejection of the rule of law, and an open invitation for more illegal immigration.”

Founded in 1979, FAIR is the country’s largest immigration reform group. With over 250,000 members nationwide, FAIR claims to fight for immigration policies to serve national interests, not special interests. FAIR believes that immigration reform must enhance national security, improve the economy, protect jobs, preserve our environment, and establish a rule of law that is recognized and enforced.

Congressman Chaka Fattah (D-PA), a senior member of the House Appropriations Committee, issued this statement in support of President Obama’s directive on new immigration policy for undocumented students and others:

“President Obama has surmounted Washington gridlock and done the right thing to strengthen the American economy and protect American students marginalized through no fault of their own. Important provisions of the Dream Act, stalled for so long on Capitol Hill, are no longer simply a dream. No one benefits by keeping young adults who play by the rules, many of whom have no memory of their country of birth and consider themselves Americans, in the shadows of society. We need comprehensive immigration reform and with this policy now in force the President has taken a significant step toward that goal.”

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