By David Sforza
The immigration system in this country is broken. Millions come into this country illegally, making it nearly impossible for deportation to be the solution. We have prevented those ones that make a good life here and adopt the United States as their country from having a path to citizenship, and have force them to live in the shadows of this nation. We need an immigration policy that enforces our border, requires businesses to verify the authenticity of their workers documents, and provides a path to citizenship for those that have fallen in love with out great nation and can better contribute to it as citizens.
There is one issue on immigration policy, however, that stands out to me from the rest. It probably has to do with the fact that I went to high school and college with the sons and daughters of illegal immigrants as well as legal immigrants, and many of them were my friends. Children who were brought to this country by their parents illegally should not pay for the crime their parents committed. We should reward those who seek to establish themselves in our communities by going to college or joining our military. If there is one immigration policy that just makes sense, it is the DREAM Act.
On December 8th, 2010 the House of Representatives in the dawn of night passed the DREAM Act. The vote was overwhelmingly lopsided, with virtually all the Democrats voting for with only eight Republicans joining them. But it was one of the speeches of the Republicans that most stood out to me. Rep. Lincoln Rafael Díaz-Balart (R-Fl-21), a Cuban American immigrant who has served in congress since 1993 and a co sponsor of the DREAM ACT had this to say:
“If there is anything that distinguishes the United States of America in an appropriate, admirable way, it’s that we are a meritocracy. You stand or you fall in the United States of America on the basis of your own decisions, not on the decisions of your parents…... We are dealing with… the kind of immigration we spend day in and day out trying to obtain in the United State: college educated people who have become so after extraordinary hard work. Secondly Mr. Speaker, after thinking what we are trying to do, it all boils down to decisions…What are the decisions that those students that we are dealing with in this legislation have made in their lives. They did not make the decision to come to the United States out of status. The only decisions that have made in their lives is to work hard, study hard and to make our communities proud. This legislation seeks to give them the opportunity to ….. contribute even more to the greatness of this nation.”
The overwhelming opposition to this bill made the argument that it was amnesty, that we would be making it harder for American workers to compete, and would inspire “chain migration.” The word “amnesty” has become a dirty word in American politics. Amnesty is defined as:
"An act of forgiveness for past offenses, especially to a class of persons as a whole.”
It’s a shame that a word with such a beautiful definition has become so vilified. Putting that aside, is “amnesty” the right word to use here? What offenses have these children committed? They were brought here; they did not come here on their own. They want to go to college and serve in our armed forces. I do not view the DREAM Act as a policy of forgiveness, but rather an award for outstanding citizenship and patriotism to this country.
For those worried about the cost these children will put on our society, surely the cost of not giving them the opportunity to become legal residents is higher. We lose the opportunity of greater wealth college graduates have over high school graduates, not to mention those forced to be paid under the table. We lose a class of intellectuals and instead doom them to a life of poverty. We lose a group of people that want to fight for our freedom and our liberty, a group of people just as patriotic as those born in this country.
As for chain migration, the policy requires 10 years before any of these children get green cards, and an additional three before they can get citizenship. In addition to that, the law restricts and DREAM Act citizen to wait 12 years before they can sponsor anyone, and even then they are limited to siblings and their parents. It would be 25 years before they could sponsor anyone, and anyone they sponsor would have to leave the country first before they can sponsor them. So while chain migration is possible, it is a lengthy process with heavy restrictions.
Good policy is hard to come by in this partisan age of politics. The DREAM Act is good policy. The Republicans tell us that this policy is yet another “liberal policy being jammed down our throats at the last minute.” But as Republican Representative Rafael Díaz-Balart tells us, the bill was ten years in the making. This is not the first time it has been brought up, and if the bill fails in the Senate, it hopefully will not be the last.
Rep. Diaz- Balart's speech on the floor: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aSPLax3C9Ow
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