Immigration DREAMers more hypocrites than heroes[Navarette][opinion]

Ianus · 08-09-2013, 03:43 PM

http://www.recordnet.com/apps/pbcs.d...ews.asp?id=93/

Quote:

House Republicans accomplished something that I didn't think was possible. By even acknowledging that they're working on their own version of the DREAM Act, they prompted the DREAMers to rediscover their parents.

Let's not forget that Republicans are the favorite punching bag of immigration reformers - a group that includes some organizations whose interests are served by preserving an impasse that enables them to continue to raise money but also more credible left-wing organizations at the grass roots who are fighting the Obama administration and putting principles before party.

One thing all these groups agree on is that nothing the GOP proposes could be of any value, and so it must be opposed sight unseen. The so-called KIDS Act, a Republican-sponsored bill that would give undocumented young people a pathway to citizenship, hasn't been formally introduced yet. And already Democrats and their supporters have denigrated it as "DREAM Lite" because supposedly it doesn't go far enough.

That's priceless coming from a party that killed the DREAM Act in December 2010, when five Senate Democrats voted against cloture and thus denied proponents a filibuster-proof majority.

Once the decision was made to oppose the KIDS Act simply because it came from Republicans, the DREAMers began saying that the legislation was unfair because it offered legal status to them - those undocumented young people who were brought here involuntarily by their parents, and who aspire to go to college or join the military - but not to their mothers and fathers. The elders would remain vulnerable to being deported by an administration that has shown a knack for removing illegal immigrants and yet still has the support of immigration reformers.

Don't ask me to explain that last part.

La Opinion, the nation's largest Spanish-language newspaper, published an editorial saying that it was "cruel and indecent to think that the young DREAMers would be satisfied with a measure that protects themselves but simultaneously deports their parents."

There are three holes in this argument.

First, as mentioned, it's the gung-ho Obama administration that has deported almost 2 million people in nearly five years. If the DREAMers think that this sort of record is "cruel and indecent," they ought to take a few minutes away from hassling Republicans and go get arrested outside the White House.

Second, until this latest offensive against Republicans, I didn't realize that DREAMers had parents. For the more than 10 years that the term "DREAM Act" has been part of the political lexicon, these undocumented young people have acted like the orphans of the immigration debate. I thought they just walked through this world alone in their caps and gowns, guided by their superior intellect and those "dreams" we always hear about.

Third, this business about how DREAMers would never be satisfied with half a loaf is nonsense. Since when? This is the same bunch that takes a crumb from the Obama administration and declares it a feast. The DREAMers were satisfied last year when President Barack Obama proposed "Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals" to give young undocumented immigrants a two-year reprieve from deportation and a work permit, but left out their parents. They were satisfied again a couple months ago when the Senate passed its immigration bill giving them an express path to legal status and citizenship, and leaving behind most of their parents who - according to several policy analysts - wouldn't qualify for either under the bill's stringent conditions.

Despite a promise to legalize 11 million, only about 8 million are likely to get legal status under the Senate bill. For instance, if papa ever got a DUI, then papa is probably out of luck.

This willingness by DREAMers to leave behind mom and dad isn't new. After all, where did they get their name? It was from a bill first proposed by Sens. Dick Durbin of Illinois and Orrin Hatch of Utah in August 2001. DREAMers still worship this bill as if it were their Emancipation Proclamation. In truth, it was an elitist piece of legislation that would have done what Republicans are accused of wanting to do now - split families by giving young undocumented immigrants legal status and citizenship while denying those things to their parents.

Some refer to DREAMersas heroes. Yet, given these political games, they're more like hypocrites. They've lost their credibility. Apparently, for the partisans in DREAMland, whether you support something, or oppose it, depends entirely on who is offering.

Pianoswithoutfaith · 08-09-2013, 04:18 PM

Yeah it's true we have no idea what the Kids Act is so people need to not assume what it will do. But come on it's republicans here like their going to let their parents stay just like that.

IamAman · 08-09-2013, 06:07 PM

A Dream Act that leaves out fellow dreamers is useless. Sure, whoever qualifies for it will take it in a heartbeat but I'm sure a stranded person in the desert would also drink piss water too if they had to.

dtrt09 · 08-09-2013, 07:29 PM

I disagree with the direction this whole debate is taking. No.1, a Dreamer should be what the White House spun last year: a childhood arrival. I am a childhood arrival. @IamAman is a childhood arrival. As are many others who were left out of the political stunt known as DACA.

No.2, before "Dreamer" "Parent of a 'Dreamer" "Ag worker", etc, we are first and foremost rooted immigrants. Those of us who've lived here for decades, who are as law abiding as the system allows us to be, are rooted in this country and we too deserve an opportunity for a work permit and protection from deportation. This applies equally to an original Dreamer who happened to grow up and cannot remain a student for eternity, it applies equally to immigrant workers whose productivity and talent are exploited by their employers, it applies equally to agricultural workers being cheated out of their labor, etc, etc, ad nauseum. Time to cut out the BS and stop spinning labels and get this work done.

jahmdream · 08-09-2013, 09:32 PM

I think he totally misunderstands our position. We have always been trying to gain legalization for ourselves AND our parents. Obviously we focus sometimes on the Dream Act because it directly affects us and seems like the "easier" thing to pass. How can we not assume that a bill put forward by the party that has put the most obstacles towards a "good" bill will not be making it as hard as possible for us. I'm gonna stop there. Apparently I'm a hypocrite for wanting legalization for myself. I couldn't possibly want legalization for any other group of people at the same time.

Swim19 · 08-10-2013, 09:34 AM

I thought a lot of us were unhappy with this "Kids Act" because it left out older DREAMers with the potential age-cap, not because it left out our parents?

CIR_DREAM2009 · 08-10-2013, 10:21 AM

I really don't get the 'whole immigration rights groups' secretly don't want CIR to pass sort of thinking. It's just a sort of false equivalency right wing shills like Navarette made to muddy the fact that their favorite political party (the Republicans) have been the prime reason any good immigration measures haven't passed after all these years.

If anything, CIR passing would be a boon to immigration rights groups. It increases potential donors to the cause since it gives a chance for previously undocumented people to move up economically and where there's already built in sympathy. It also improves morale instead of having people dejected and drop out of political activism. Finally, there's no shortage of issues to work on if CIR passes - farm worker safety being one of the major ones.

People like Navarette really do sicken me.

CIR_DREAM2009 · 08-10-2013, 10:29 AM

To add to my point, the Navarette article makes it sound like we should praise the House Republicans for even deigning to consider the KIDS Act. Well, la di da.

The Republicans should be running to the left of the Dems if they know what's good for them electorally.

cacheton011 · 08-10-2013, 10:44 AM

lol, Navarro again. nuff said

IamAman · 08-10-2013, 11:58 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by cacheton011

lol, Navarro again. nuff said

Exactly. That guy has no idea what we've gone through.

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Immigration DREAMers more hypocrites than heroes[Navarette][opinion]