Every morning Pedro Morales wakes up and gets ready to go to school. He walks about three blocks to the bus stop and waits for the bus to take him to school. While on the bus he thinks about his life and what it will become after he graduates from college. He knows that his whole life depends on one act.
Morales, a University of Texas at Arlington undergraduate, is unlike many students. He has attended school in the United States since he was five years old and is currently a junior in college trying to pursue a career in psychology, but one obstacle is stopping him from being successful: He is an illegal immigrant.
Like thousands of illegal immigrants who are students, Morales is waiting for the Development, Relief and Education for Alien Minors Act, known as the DREAM Act, to pass. The act would permit immigrant students who have grown up in the U.S. to apply for temporary legal status and eventually obtain permanent status and become eligible for citizenship if they go to college or serve in the military. It will eliminate a federal provision that penalizes states that provide in-state tuition without regard to immigration status.
Morales has been waiting for the DREAM Act to pass since it was first introduced to Congress in 2001. He explains that all he can do is hope and wait for it to pass.
“Here I am going through the educational system in America, but I can’t do anything with it,” Morales said. “I am proud of myself for building up all that knowledge, but I want to be able to do something with it.”
Senators Orrin Hatch and Richard Durbin introduced the act to the Senate on July 31, 2003. It has twice passed the United States Senate Judiciary Committee with a vote of 16-3 in 2003-2004 and with a voice vote in 2006.
In May 2006, the act passed the Senate as part of the Comprehensive Immigration Reform Act of 2006. In May 2007, the Comprehensive Immigration Reform Act of 2007 was introduced in the Senate and was never voted on; cloture took place with a vote of 46-53.
On Sept. 21, 2007, Senator Durbin introduced the DREAM Act as an amendment to the 2008 defense appropriation bill, but it never reached a vote and was pulled from the bill. On Oct. 17, the act was attached as an amendment to the Labor, Health and Human Services Appropriations bill. On Oct. 22, Senate offices reported that the act would be on the Senate floor as a stand-alone bill within days.
On Oct. 24, the DREAM Act did go to the Senate as a stand-alone bill. Supporters of the act needed 60 votes to advance the proposal, but the vote came out to be 52-44. The White House opposed the bill but did not threaten to veto it. Senator Durbin said he will not give up on the act and will keep trying. According to Senator Durbin, there is still a chance it can be resurrected and enacted this year.
Dara Ake, paralegal for Elsa Gonzales Law Office, explains that she sees a lot of cases dealing with students who are waiting for the DREAM Act to pass so they can file for legal status.
“The DREAM Act will help these students a lot because for most of them that is their only way of becoming legal residents or citizens,” Ake said.
To qualify for immigration relief under the DREAM Act, a student must have been brought to the U.S. more than five years ago when he or she was about 15 years old or younger. The student must demonstrate good moral character.
Once such a student graduates from high school, he or she will be permitted to apply for conditional status, which will authorize up to six years of legal residence. During that period the student will be required to graduate from a two-year college, complete at least two years toward a four-year degree or serve in the U.S. military for at least two years.
Permanent residence will be granted at the end of the six-year period if the student has met the requirements and has continued to maintain good moral character. The act will restore full authority to states to determine state college and university fees.
Jesus Garcia, a University of Texas at Arlington senior and Spanish major, wants to become a teacher and hopes the DREAM Act passes so he can fulfill his dream. Garcia wishes his education would count the same as everyone else’s. He explains it would make it easier for him to get a professional job and not just a regular job like working in a factory.
“I feel like I am an American, and I deserve to be seen as an American because I have lived here all my life,” Garcia said. “Mexico is the country I was born in but not the country that I know as home.”
Every year about 65,000 U.S.-raised students who qualify for the DREAM Act graduate from high school. These include honor roll students, star athletes, talented artists, aspiring teachers and valedictorians. They face barriers to higher education, they are unable to work legally and they live in fear of being deported.
