FEATURE
Out of the Shadows
By: Natali T. Del Conte

Every year an estimated 65,000 undocumented children graduate from public high schools in the United States. Despite having spent most of their lives, and having received most, if not all, of their education in this country, these young people are not eligible for in-state tuition for college, and worse still, there is no guarantee that they will be able to stay in the U.S. and work after graduation. The sad irony is that these students are highly assimilated and most know no other country but the U.S.

In an attempt to correct this perpetual limbo in which illegal immigrant children find themselves, senators Orrin Hatch (RUT) and Richard Durbin (D-IL) authored the Development, Relief and Education for Alien Minors Act, or as it came to be known, the DREAM Act. While the bill itself was authored back in 2003, it was reintroduced into the Senate last November, and is expected to be voted on this year.

If passed, the DREAM Act would instate a provision allowing the children of illegal immigrants to apply for “conditional” legal status upon graduation from high school. The “conditional” status could then be changed to permanent residency if the students either pursue higher education or serve in the military.

“A lot of students give up and drop out when they’re juniors in high school,” says Saul Verduzco, a graduate student at San Jose State University who is active in a group called Student Advocates for Higher Education (SAHE), a group comprised mainly of undocumented students. “A lot of them are in a state of depression. They think, ‘What’s the point of going to college if I’m not going to be able to work with my degree?’ ”

Verduzco and his organization travel the San Francisco Bay Area talking to high school students, educating them on the DREAM Act and encouraging them to pursue higher education no matter what.

“We try to tell them that it’s not a waste of time,” he says. “We give them hope with the DREAM Act and say that they may be eligible to adjust their status if they meet the requirements, one of which is to have a degree.”

Verduzco, an outspoken supporter of the act, is himself hoping to apply to medical school or begin teaching once he finishes his master’s degree in biology. To do so, however, he’ll have to wait for the DREAM Act to pass in order to work legally in the U.S. or be eligible for the same grants as U.S. citizens.

In order to apply for “conditional” status under the DREAM Act, students must have “good moral character,” meaning they cannot have had any run-ins with the law. They must also have come to the U.S. before they were 16 years old and at least five years before the date of the bill’s enactment. To obtain permanent residency, students must graduate from a two-year college, a vocational college, or studied for at least two years towards a bachelor’s degree or higher. Alternatively, they can amend their status by serving in the U.S. military for two years.

The DREAM Act has its detractors, though. In-state tuition and the question of whether or not the act will encourage illegal immigration are their main points of contention.

“It is a de facto amnesty,” says Ira Mehlman, a spokesperson for the Federation for American Immigration Reform (FAIR). “It sends a message that if you come to the U.S. and get your kid through high school, your ticket is stamped.”

Mehlman believes that granting an undocumented child in-state tuition denies a U.S. citizen or resident his or her educational opportunities. And he also believes the DREAM Act is in effect an end-run around the existing student visa laws.

“The DREAM Act actually gives people who broke the law a better deal than those who come on student visas because they don’t get in-state tuition benefits,” he says. “So you’re basically saying, ‘If you came on a student visa, you’re an idiot.’ ”

Opinions are also divided on whether or not the DREAM Act would actually encourage illegal immigrants

“The DREAM ACT would have no impact on the number of immigrants that come here,” says Josh Bernstein, the director of federal policy for the National Immigration Law Center (NILC). “People don’t come here thinking of the technicalities of the law and what it will be in 10 or 15 years.”

Bernstein points out that current economic situations, both in their home countries and in the U.S., are what push people to emigrate to the U.S. He argues that they may not even be aware of laws such as the DREAM Act when they decide to move here. Mehlman disagrees, saying that as soon as these types of laws are passed in the U.S., they become bigger news in other countries than here.

Lobbyists for and against the DREAM Act are working hard to increase awareness and implore voters to write letters to their local congressman to encourage a vote in one direction or the other. Both sides believe that, while certainly not a shoe-in, the DREAM Act has a good chance of being approved by the Senate.

“It has a chance because many people who mistakenly blame immigrants for coming into the country illegally, don’t blame little Johnny who was 2 years old at the time and was a good student,” says Mark Silverman, director of immigration policy for the Immigration Legal Resource Center (ILRC) in San Francisco. “People are much more sympathetic to immigrant students, especially those who are doing well.”

Bernstein is not quite as optimistic but certainly hopeful: “I think that it’s very diffi cult to predict legislation like the DREAM Act, especially in a year like this wherethere’s so much uncertainty in all of the related issues such as immigration and education and the overall political situation coming into the election year, but I think it’s a serious bill with a serious chance of passing this year.”

FAIR’s Mehlman doesn’t see the act getting approval.

“[Senators Hatch and Durbin] are two powerful guys in Congress,” he says. “When you have two senior members of the Senate behind it, you have to take it seriously, but its chances are not all that good.”

Most groups opposed to the DREAM Act offer no alternatives for the children who will be affected by the status quo. Supporters of the DREAM Act say that their focus is and will continue to be the children, who are by and large American and face a very uncertain future.

“This makes it so that we don’t have to spend resources deporting honor students,” says Bernstein. “It’s about trying to do something for these kids who have done everything that society has asked them to do and inject a little sanity in our system.” H

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