Nightmare on Dream Street
April 30, 2010
by Wais Hassan
As the debate about immigration reform rages on, calls for the DREAM Act are becoming more raucous among the political left. On April 27, proponents of the DREAM Act gathered at the National Press Club, in Washington DC to renew their calls for Congress to provide in-state tuition to illegal alien students by enacting the DREAM Act. Four students began a 1,500-mile march from Miami to DC on January 1, 2010 in order to draw attention to proposed DREAM Act legislation and to President Obama’s refusal to move forward on the issue. They arrived in DC a few days before the conference. The conference was sponsored by the Immigrant Advocacy Center which labeled the students’ journey: a Trail of DREAMs.
The brief conference included tearful testimony from the students who embarked on the journey. They highlighted fears of deportation and their frustration with their current limbo status, which they argue prevents them from obtaining jobs within their chosen professions. Students expected to meet with Obama upon their arrival in DC, but Obama rejected their request for a meeting and instead delegated an immigration aide to speak with them. The advocates rejected Obama’s offering, claiming that they did not embark on such a long journey to speak to someone who did not have the authority to issue any decisions.
Many critics of the DREAM Act argue that undocumented college graduates should return to their native countries to apply their degrees in their homelands. They also feel that the provision of coveted college enrollment slots to illegal aliens pushes American students out of the way in favor of illegal aliens. Students at the gathering claimed that they grew up as Americans and had no ties to their native countries. Despite their emotional appeal it is highly unlikely that Congress or the Administration will move on immigration reform during this election year. The DREAM Act, a central component of Comprehensive Immigration Reform in the eyes of proponents, remains one of most decisive issues in upcoming Congressional and state elections.
In fact, the state of California, the state with the greatest number of undocumented students, is currently engaging in a policy debate over whether to revoke its provision of in-state tuition for illegal alien students. States like California and Texas that grant in-state tuition to undocumented students have devoted millions of dollars in subsidies to these programs. This, of course, creates a financial burden for states that are already reeling from the economic recession. Furthermore, such policies at selective state universities like the University of Texas and University of California systems push citizens and legal residents out of slots they would normally have been granted. Legalization proponents fail to realize that the legislation they are advocating would actually harm current residents and citizens by further depleting scarce financial aid resources.
Proponents argue that children should not be punished for the transgressions of their parents, but they fail to recognize that their parents, and not the state, are responsible for their hardship.
