DREAM Act down payment to immigration reform, attorney says

By Joshua Fechter


Published: Wednesday, September 22, 2010

Updated: Wednesday, September 22, 2010 18:09


Tyler K. Cleveland

Luis Figueroa, attorney for the Mexican American Legal Defense and Education Fund, speaks Wednesday during the DREAM Act rally in the Fiesta Room of Loftin.

Tyler K. Cleveland

Students listen Wednesday to liberal arts freshman Maria Fernanda Chavez, historian of Students United for the DREAM Act, during the DREAM Act rally in the Fiesta Room of Loftin.
Students United for the DREAM Act teamed up with attorneys Wednesday in an event to support legislation that would grant certain undocumented students six years of conditional citizenship.

Historian Fernanda Chavez, a liberal arts freshman, gave a PowerPoint presentation on the basics of the Development, Relief and Education for Alien Minors, or DREAM, Act and conceptions of undocumented students.

"Most undocumented students did not choose to come here; their parents did," Chavez said at the event in Loftin Student Center.

"If you support education, you support the DREAM Act," Chavez said.

Chavez said students should call their representatives and register to vote so that they can represent undocumented students who cannot vote.

Luis Figueroa, an attorney for the Mexican-American Legal Defense and Education Fund, spoke about the legislation.

"We believe that the DREAM Act is a down payment to comprehensive immigration reform," he said.

Figueroa said that the legislation would put students with skills in fields such as nursing, engineering and the military and on the path to legal employment.

"The law makes no sense the way it is right now. We have to have the DREAM Act. We have to put these kids to work," he said.

Figueroa also spoke briefly about Texas HB 1403, which allows students who are not permanent residents of the U.S., documented or otherwise, but have lived in Texas for at least three years before graduating from a Texas high school or receiving the equivalent of a high school diploma in Texas to qualify for in-state tuition.

Immigration attorney Marisol Peréz spoke about issues related to immigration and her work with the law firm DeMott, McChesney, Curtright &' Armendáriz, LLP.

She said she encounters potential DREAM Act beneficiaries every day.

Peréz and Figueroa then took questions from the audience.

President Alina Cortes, a philology sophomore, discussed how her undocumented status prevented her from serving in the U.S. Marine Corps.

"There's nothing that I would want more than to serve the country that has given me so much all of these years," she said.

The student group also showed videos by Brave New Films that discussed immigration.

Business administration freshman Elizabeth Andrade attended the event to learn more about the DREAM Act so that she can tell other students about it.

"There are a lot of students who need the help that the DREAM Act offers," she said.

Psychology sophomore Laura Ramirez attended the event to decide if she supported the act or not.

"If I end up supporting it, I will join the cause," she said.

To qualify for conditional citizenship under the DREAM ACT, students must have proof of U.S. residency before the age of 16, have lived in the United States for five consecutive years, be between the age of 12 and 35 at the time of the bill's enactment, graduated from an American high school or received a GED and must not have been convicted of any crimes other than nondrug-related misdemeanors.

During the six years of conditional residency, students must fulfill one of three requirements: graduate from a two-year college, complete two years of a four-year degree or serve two years in the U.S. military.

At the end of the six years, the student may apply for permanent U.S. citizenship.

If none of these requirements are met during the six-year period, residency will be revoked.

U.S. Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, D-Nev., attached the DREAM Act as an amendment to the National Defense Authorization Act for fiscal year 2011.

However, when the vote to move the bill to the Senate floor came up Tuesday night, it failed with a vote of 56-43.

Both Figueroa and Cortes said the DREAM Act should become a stand-alone bill and not be attached to any other piece of legislation.

Figueroa said that the issue should be taken up during Congress' lame-duck session after the Nov. 2 elections.

Students United for the DREAM Act meets at 4:30 p.m. every Tuesday in the Fiesta Room of Loftin.

Membership is open to all students.

For more information, visit the group's website at www.sudasac.org or call 201-875-3390.

Source : http://www.theranger.org/dream-act-d...says-1.2338915

failed down payment is failed.

Success comes from failure.

The downpayment was to low, we need a higher one!

If things can't get worse they can only get better.

i'm tired of the down payment bullcrap, how about they melt the phone lines instead of hopping on our backs

I hate pointless articles like these that don't help.

Its a good article to get the message out there.

true. this is another bs to every dreamer.

The failure to pass the Dream Act is a clear indication that there will never be an immigration reform in this country. It just won't happen. If the Senate doesn't want to legalize young people who came to this country through no fault of their own then they will be 100 times more unlikely to legalize all the illegal immigrants.