New, But Faded Dream

The passage of the DREAM Act by the House last night is a huge step forward for the immigration reform movement. But as we anxiously await the Senate’s vote, let’s take a look at the current Senate version.

Recent changes to the DREAM Act have more narrowly defined who is eligible under the already compromised bill. With Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid doing his part to push the DREAM Act into vote, the modified bill has cut many benefits to secure the much needed third Republican vote; Senator Dick Durbin has committed to be the second Republican vote, but the third vote is yet to be filled. Activists for the DREAM Act, or DREAMers, are looking to Republican Senator from Texas, Kay Bailey Hutchinson, who in 2007 had promised to push for the bill once it was amended to party demands. Well, the time has come! The latest version of the bill, S. 3992, has many changes, limitations, and provisions that will inevitably affect the many students seeking education and eligibility to serve in the military.

The DREAM Act would allow eligible undocumented youths who entered the country before their 16^th birthday, and who commit to 2 years of higher education or military service, to be eligible for permanent residency and to ultimately become naturalized citizens.

Compromise came at certain costs. According to the new DREAM Act, there will be a cap on eligibility at age 29. Previous versions of the bill had no age cap and then a cap at 35. Additionally, the waiting period as a “conditional non-immigrant” has been increased from six to ten years. This doesn’t even take into account the extra three years of waiting to become eligible for naturalization.

If that weren’t enough, the new bill also excludes DREAMers from benefiting from any health care reforms during their 10-year limbo. The new bill also redefines what qualifies as “good moral character”. According to past versions of the bill, a person was eligible if he had a clean record or had committed a crime that carried a maximum sentence of 1-year in prison, from the time the bill was enacted going forward. The new bill counts any crimes committed from the time he or she entered the country. Furthermore, S. 3992 would require the students to submit biometric data—finger prints, models, similarity scores—to be monitored by the nice people at Homeland Security. These restrictions serve to exclude more people and keep more people languishing at the bottom rungs of our society.

Like many in support of the DREAM Act, student activists view any sort of change in the current flawed immigrant laws as a victory. Unfortunately, the new DREAM Act comes with some fine print. And as of the morning of this blog entry, the Senate bill may change yet again, as leadership seeks to avoid a filibuster on the current bill and introduce the House version next week – so we might need to start squinting all over in a few days. No doubt, the need to pass the bill and enact it to benefit millions of students is a priority – we need reform and this is our first step that will change the lives of millions. But I hope that the DREAM Act isn’t being changed into someone else’s dream.

Posted by Sara Veliz, sveliz@miracoalition.org