The DREAM act – Great idea!
From the National Association of Social Workers:
Development, Relief, and Education for Alien Minors (DREAM) Act
The DREAM Act is a bipartisan bill introduced to provide undocumented young people an earned legal pathway to citizenship.
Under this legislation an individual would qualify for 6-year conditional permanent resident status if he/she meets the following conditions:
- Entered the U.S. before the age of 16;
- Under the age of 35;
- Graduate from high school or obtain a GED;
- Lived continuously in the U.S. for at least five years prior to the date of the enactment of the DREAM Act and;
- Has good moral character (no criminal record).
Students would be able to apply for lawful permanent residency if during the 6-year time frame they completed at least two years of college or U.S. military service.
See this.
We deal with this issue quite often at the shelter with clients who were brought over as kids. I also have a best friend who was adopted as a baby and who had to get his citizenship later in life, after having been about as “American” as you can get for many years.
As a professional social worker and a citizen of a border state, I do agree that our country needs immigration reform. But the laws need to be progressive like this one and not punitive like the fascist, xenophobic laws they are trying to pass in Arizona.
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