Rep. Peter A. Sessions (R-TX)

Pete Sessions is very unlikely to support the DREAM Act. He has an A rating from NumbersUSA, and is a cosponsor of the SAVE Act which is a bill designed to increase interior enforcement of immigration laws by doing things like requiring the IRS to share its information with ICE and increasing the ability of local law enforcement to enforce immigration law. I am not saying its impossible he'd vote for the DREAM Act, but its definitely unlikely.

Quoting directly from the Thomas Library of Congress website, Bill H.R.1751 in the House of Representatives and Bill S. 729 in the Senate, the American Dream Act and Dream Act of 2009 currently stand in both chambers of Congress since March 26, 2009. These bills would adjust the status of undocumented individuals who meet the following criteria: 1) entered the United States before his or her 16th birthday and has been present in the United States for at least five years immediately preceding enactment of this Act; 2) is a person of good moral character; 3) is not inadmissible or deportable under specified grounds of the Immigration and Nationality Act; and 4) at the time of application, has been admitted to an institution of higher education or has earned a high school or equivalent diploma. Additionally, the individual must be at least 12 years of age and must not exceed the age of 35 to be eligible for this Act. To date the Dream Act has support from 106 representatives and 32 senators who have co-sponsored the bills. These supporters truly understand the importance that this Act represents if approved as it would provide undocumented individuals who have lived in this country since their childhood a chance to legalize by providing them a chance to prove that they are productive, well-to-do individuals that can make great achievements for this country. The circumstances under which these individuals came to this country vary greatly, but they all have one thing in common, they migrated to this country when they were young and at an age when as minors they cannot be held responsible for making life altering determinations such as the choice to immigrate and remain undocumented in a foreign country. Thus, by the nature of their status as minors at the time of their initial entrance to this country and establishing this country as their permanent home for educational purposes, they have no legal liability for the circumstances of their legal status and deserve an opportunity to lead a better life. Returning to their home countries would create chaos in the majority of these people because they have become so engaged in the American life and culture, have assimilated so much that a large percentage of them don’t know life other than the being here and some don’t even speak their native language. They would rather remain undocumented in this country rather than return to their native countries to avoid creating chaos in their life. Most importantly if this Act were to pass, large amounts of research and publications point out that legalizing this particular group of individuals would greatly benefit this country in different ways. According to a CNN article published January 7, 2010 named “Legalizing unauthorized immigrants would help economy study says”, in the broader context of legalizing the ‘11’ million of undocumented individuals living in the US would “raise wages, increase consumption, create jobs and generate more tax revenue”. In this same article, it mentions that a report by the Center for American Progress and the American Immigration Council estimated that the legalization of the estimated 11 million undocumented individuals in this country would create at least $1.5 trillion US gross domestic product over a 10-year period. With this in mind, legalizing not the general undocumented population in the US most of which are low wage earners, but rather the Dream Act beneficiaries who will have higher education and better paying jobs would create a highly positive economic impact. Adopting opposing strategies such as focusing on removing the undocumented population would harm the economy in many different imagined ways. Our intention as Dream Act supporters is not to oppose adopting a comprehensive immigration reform, but rather to show the extreme hardship and absent legal liability of individuals who have lived in the US since they were minors and how expediting the legalization of this group of people would yield great benefits for this country, especially in the economy. Nowhere in the text of the Dream Act bill does it indicate that it’s beneficiaries would create a burden on the government by draining resources, because this Act if passed would require that beneficiaries are only allowed the opportunity to obtain federal student loans and federal work-study programs and would not be allowed to benefit from the typical financial aid that legal US residents enjoy. Dream Act beneficiaries would not be allowed to benefit from financial aid such as Cal Grants in California until they surpass the six-year conditional residency status and become legal permanent residents, thus they would not drain monetary resources. In conclusion, for countless reasons some of which I have mentioned, legalizing Dream Act potential beneficiaries would be the best proof that legalization of the undocumented hard-working population in the US would benefits this great country.¹