DREAM Act Portal Forum - Dream act is long overdue-AZ Republic

Second Article on the same newspaper about the DREAM Act. Wow people we need to make sure this is the year keep the phones ringing!

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It is not fiscally prudent to walk away from a 12-year investment just as it is about to pay off.

But, in stark economic terms, that's what happens tens of thousands of times a year all across the country. Taxpayers are denied their money's worth.

Why does this continue even though a solution has been around since 2001?

Because the topic is undocumented students, and the nation's ability to deal with anything related to illegal immigration has gone up in the smoke of overheated rhetoric.

That is particularly tragic in this case because these students are true innocents.

These are children who were brought here by their parents, often when they were too young to remember the journey. Some of them didn't even know they were not American citizens until the time came to trade those good high-school grades for a spot at the university.

An estimated 65,000 undocumented students graduate from public school every year and are denied the chance to go on to college. Culturally and socially, these kids are as American as Mom's pie. They grew up pledging allegiance to our flag and have little or no connection to any other country.

It is unjust and inhumane to deny these kids the chance to continue building productive lives under the Stars and Stripes.

But for those who are not impressed by humane considerations, we offer the economic argument. By denying these talented children the chance to further their education, the nation is ensuring that the investment taxpayers made in their education cannot be maximized.

The solution, a bipartisan idea that was once not nearly as controversial as it is now, is a federal law called the Dream Act. It has been introduced in every Congress since 2001.

It is time it passed.

In a letter last month to presidents and chancellors of institutions of higher learning across the country, Arizona State University President Michael Crow and Cornell University President David Skorton urged a concerted effort to push Congress to finally pass the Dream Act.

"It is time to ensure access to higher education for the thousands of undocumented high-school graduates who have, through no fault of their own, been denied a college education," they wrote.

It is, indeed, past time for this legislation, S. 729 and HR 1751. The measures provide a path to citizenship for certain undocumented students who arrived as minors, have been in the country continuously for at least five years and either attend college or join the military.

It would take real political courage to stand up in Congress and support the Dream Act.

But it is both just and fiscally sound to give these kids a chance to legally become what they have grown up to be: Americans.