My Letter to Senator Durbin

My Friends on this forum, the DREAM Act based on its failing for nearly the past 10-years I doubt will be approved in its current form. Some of you might not like this reality. I've submitted the following letter to Senator Durbin along with other influential Congressman involved in the DREAM Act on both sides of the aisle.

United States Senator Richard Durbin
525 South 8th Street
Springfield, IL 62703

Dear Senator Durbin:

RE: DREAM ACT 2009 / AMENDMENT SUGGESTION

I applaud you Senator Durbin for taking the initiative to move this important piece of legislation. However, I am concerned, like years past, the legislation will not pass due to its flaws – it is important that both sides of the aisle construct a bill that is both fair and manageable.

I question the age limit of 30 – how is this explained? Considering the DREAM Act has been brought to the floor of congress so many times over a span of 5-years +…the original DREAM Act was introduced years ago – why set an arbitrary age limit in the first place? Setting an age limit of 30 might be considered "age-discrimination." If anything, the age limit of 30 should be increased for each year Congress failed to pass the DREAM Act.

**AMENDMENT TO REFINE RECIPIENTS OF DREAM ACT BENEFITS**

PREFERRED DREAM ACT RECIPIENTS CRITERIA:

1. Children who were brought here to the United States legally and due to outdated policies and procedures may have “aged-out” when their parents had applied for their permanent resident status. The applications to apply for permanent resident status was made while the children were under 21-years old however due to massive backlogs in processing times, these same children are now considered “undocumented.” No ARBITRARY AGE-LIMIT.

2. Parents of these now considered undocumented and illegal children/young people are permanent residents with valid green cards and are law-abiding, tax paying members of society.

3. Parents have applied to sponsor their children who have “aged-out” through no-fault of their own are waiting for their children to be able to adjust their status. Give children/young people who are considered “aged-out” some immediate relief. The Child Status Protection Act did not solve these problems, which is an epidemic in regard to family unity and our American Values.

4. Children/Young People who are now considered undocumented due to “aged-out” applications hold a VALID Social Security Number provided to them when they first legally entered the country. No identify theft has occurred.

5. These same children/young people have responsibly paid their federal income taxes each and every year again using their VALID SOCIAL SECURITY NUMBER issued when they first legally arrived in the United States.

6. These same children/young people have graduated from a U.S. High School or Obtained a GED.

7. Have good moral character with no criminal record whatsoever.

8. Will agree to continue pursuing their college/advanced education or enlist in the military. If the young person already possesses a college/university degree, he-she shall be required to obtained Advanced Education (Masters, PhD) or enlist in the Military.

9. To show the United States the Children/Young Adults participating in the ‘Preferential Dream Act’ Recipient program are committed to being good citizens of society – 40 hours of community service required with federally approved volunteer programs.

10. The young-people participating in this program shall receive a two-year conditional green-card leading eventually to permanent residence status.

11. Finally, the recipients benefiting from this preferred Dream-Act alien classification do not carry or harbor certain diseases such as HIV, AIDS, etc.

I feel the immigration debate is best handled by working on “preferential” aliens regardless of how small the number may be affected and then working our way outward towards those aliens which are ‘less-preferential.’ Only in this way can any consensus be built. With such criteria above, how can any Representative or Senator possibly say ‘NO’ when you apply points one through eleven above? Lets find some common ground FIRST!

Do you meet all the above criteria?

Hey, also add that only Engineering and Business majors should be considered if they graduate above a 3.5 GPA. That'll make it money baby. Straight money!

Yes.

The only way to reach consensus on this difficult issue is to first identify the most preferrential specific group. Having spoken with both sides of the aisle, they can support narrowing the criteria to a preferred group before embarking on other less-preferential aliens.

You're being completely ridiculous. Nice to know that you can come here and tell us who the DREAM Act should benefit, while we've been fighting to pass it for years.

I pay my taxes every year too, with my Tax I.D. number, you know? What makes you think you're better than the rest of us who don't have a social security number or whose parents did not petition for them? We're just as American as you or U.S. citizens.

Sincerely,

A "less preferential alien"

So you wrote to him so it could benefit you the most??

This is ridiculous.

No HIV or AIDS? Some people get it through no fault of their own, and you want to punish them?

Rules are Rules my friend. See below. Best chance is for a waiver to be included as part of the DREAM Act.

Section 212(a)(1)(A)(i) of the Immigration and Nationality Act states that any foreign national with a “communicable disease of public health significance” which includes HIV, is “inadmissible.” This means that if you are HIV-positive, you can only obtain a “green card” if you qualify for a waiver. If you are HIV-positive and apply for legal permanent residence and do not qualify for a waiver, your application will be denied and you may be placed in removal (deportation) proceedings.

To qualify to apply for an HIV waiver, an applicant must be:

The spouse of a U.S. citizen or legal permanent resident; or
The unmarried son or daughter of a U.S. citizen or legal permanent resident; or
The minor, unmarried lawfully adopted child of a U.S. citizen; or
The parent of a son or daughter who is a U.S. citizen or legal permanent resident; or
Eligible to self-petition under the Violence against Women Act (i.e. the abused spouse of a U.S. citizen or legal permanent resident); or
A Refugee or Asylee who falls under a “humanitarian” exception to the HIV bar

Add that to your list ASAP!

Wow. Can you say "self-centered"! The people that have been fighting to pass the DREAM ACT, have been fighting to better the lives of EVERY child that was brought to the US through no fault of their own. Not just a select few, or as you call them, the "preferential aliens". The fact that your parents entered legally does not make you better than the children of parents who entered illegally. By overstaying, your parents broke the laws too... which is why you are in the situation you are in now. Either way you look at it, a law was broken and I guess someone has to pay the consequences. Is it fair that it has to be "us" that pay for it... no, but this is the way things are and this is the reason why the DREAM ACT was created.

You talk about the "unfair" circumstances of YOUR situation... specifically pointing to the fact that the current immigration laws are inhuman. You tell your story hoping to draw compassion from people, because in the end our stories is what tugs at people's hearts, and the main reason why they would support a law such as DREAM, YET you show little compassion to the people that are fighting for the same thing you are.

You want DREAM to pass so that it can benefit YOU... what if you were born with AIDS. Should this exclude you from the DREAM Act? After all, it wouldn't be YOUR fault, right? Oh wait, if you had AIDS this wouldn't have been one of the requirements of DREAM, since it IS tailored to your qualifications.

Nice list you made there. Not only is this self center but you want people to do things your way. I really like number eight,how much farther can you go after a PhD? (Tenure). The Aids thing is ridiculous do you know some people are born with.Instead of making a self center list you should make calls,meet with your representatives, etc to make sure the "Dream Act" passes this year.One more thing "Rules are Rules" followed one rule stop being self center and get off your high horse.