Sarah Palin At Ellis Island: Proves She Knows Nothing About Dream Act
Submitted by Norman Byrd on 2011-06-02
Sarah Palin proves on a daily basis why she shouldn't be president. Sometimes it is foreign policy. Sometimes it is domestic issues. This time around she does it by explaining why the Dream Act should not be passed.
Quote:
Sarah Palin visited Ellis Island, the gateway to America for over 12 million immigrants between 1892 and 1924, early Wednesday as part of her "One Nation" bus tour. During a press conference she was asked about her position on the DREAM Act, which is a hotly contested issue within immigration reform. Palin lauded the contributions of yesterdays immigrants and just moments later proved that she had no idea what was embodied in the DREAM Act, which was designed for America's latest immigrants.
“It’s one of the symbols of course of our country, and it’s a reminder too that immigrants built this country,” Palin stated. “So we want to make sure that we’re highlighting that on our bus tour, maybe so that the present day immigrants know how much we appreciate them and their work ethic, and their love of country and freedom.”
Saying that she appreciates them is not the same thing as extending a pathway to citizenship, which is what the DREAM Act actually does. But Palin apparently holds with just the talking points of the conservative argument against it.
When asked specifically about the DREAM Act, she said, "The immigrants of the past, they had to literally and figuratively stand in line and follow rules to become U.S. citizens. I’d like to see that continue. And unfortunately, the DREAM Act kind of usurps that -- the system that is a legal system to make sure that immigrants who want to be here legally, working hard, producing and supplying revenue and resources for their families, that they’re able to do that right and legally. Unfortunately, the DREAM Act doesn’t accomplish that."
The DREAM Act does exactly what Palin -- and many conservatives -- says it does not. Ignoring the fact that if an Act becomes law, it then becomes part of the legal system, Palin presents the DREAM Act as somehow working outside or circumventing the present system of becoming a U. S. citizen. It does not. What the DREAM Act does is provide a pathway to citizenship, one in which the applicants must go through numerous rigorous background checks, pay taxes, learn English, and either serve in the United States military or attend college. In addition to that, the prospective citizen would then be designated a "conditional nonimmigrant" and have to wait ten years before being granted legal immigrant status.
That might be seen as a lengthy period of "waiting in line." It might also be seen as "working hard, producing and supplying revenue and resources for their families." It certainly isn't amnesty, with which some have attempted to equate it. And what better way to reward a person who has educated him/herself in this country or served in the armed forces than with "conditional nonimmigrant" status and a chance to become a citizen, even if that citizenship is another decade in the future?
Sarah Palin's bus tour is ostensibly billed as an effort to "educate and energize Americans about our nation's founding principles." One of those principles was allowing people of every race, creed, and political persuasion to pursue the American Dream. Perhaps before she again simply spouts talking points, Palin should also "educate" herself on current legislation that would extend the founding principles to a new generation of immigrants.
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Last edited by h3wlett; 06-01-2011 at 10:29 PM..