A school district in Wisconsin passed a resolution supporting the DREAM Act, which is awesome. What is not so awesome is the author's lightly-veiled bias against it. But you can support the DREAM Act by simply clicking YES on their poll.
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RACINE - The Racine Unified School Board Monday night endorsed a proposed federal law that if passed would provide a path to citizenship for illegal immigrant youth and younger adults.
The proposed law, called the Development, Relief and Education for Alien Minors Act, or DREAM Act, would give illegal immigrants who are younger than 35 when the law is passed and who arrived in the U.S. before age 16 the opportunity to become citizens if they attend college or serve in the military and also meet moral and behavioral criteria.
The DREAM Act has been endorsed by the University of Wisconsin System and Milwaukee Public Schools, among others, and now Racine Unified joins that list. At a meeting Monday night, the School Board approved a resolution supporting the DREAM Act in a 7-1 vote.
"Thousands of children who are currently caught up in the immigration system through no fault of their own deserve the opportunity to contribute fully to their community and to the nation," reads part of the resolution. It also states the Racine Unified board thinks the DREAM Act aligns with the district goal to have all students succeed in college or careers and urges timely passage of the DREAM Act at the federal level.
Board passage of the resolution was followed by applause and a standing ovation from the about 10 students in attendance.
The students there were members of Youth Empowered in the Struggle, or YES, a student group for immigrant rights with members from Horlick, Park and St. Catherine's high schools. Of the students and others at the meeting, four spoke on the DREAM Act and all spoke in favor of it.
"Racine needs, Wisconsin needs and the United States needs immigration reform. A wall isn't going to solve the problem. We need pathways to citizenship," Kayla Cruz-Herrera, a Horlick junior and YES member, told the board. She added that a vote in favor of the DREAM Act would show Racine's immigrant and Hispanic communities that Unified supports them.
Students like Kayla are especially interested in the DREAM Act because the conditional temporary residency and eventual U.S. citizenship granted by the law would allow illegal immigrant youth to hold legal jobs and receive scholarships, grants and some government funding for higher education. Board member Melvin Hargrove said he worried that would take scholarships and college funding away from students who already are U.S. citizens so he voted against supporting the DREAM Act and was the only board member to do so.
