Comments on: DREAM Act: Just a Dream or Real Opportunity?

By: DREAM Act Moving to Forefront of Dialogue on Immigration Reform « Nuestra Vida, Nuestra Voz

Fri, 30 Jul 2010 19:50:26 +0000

[...] degree instead devote two years to military service. Furthermore, undocumented students still won’t have access to federal financial aid or Pell Grants, which means that their dreams of attending college, even in fulfillment of the educational [...]

By: Debora Upegui

Debora Upegui — Fri, 30 Jul 2010 19:03:10 +0000

Susana, your point that activists and advocates would have to work really hard on informing students that simply enrolling in a two year college program is not enough and that they need to finish the two years is extremely important. Attrition rates at community colleges are high and a large number of community college students do not complete their associate’s degrees or take more than 2-3 years to finish them as life obligations get in their way.
There are many obstacles that contribute to diminish the opportunities for associate’s degree students to finish like having to earn a living and pay tuition, having families, and needing many remedial courses in writing and math before they can even begin to take their content classes. So, there would still be a lot of work to be done to make sure those who may potentially take this route don’t get lost in the process.
Thank you for a very informative and important discussion.

By: Sue

Sue — Fri, 30 Jul 2010 13:54:26 +0000

I would love DREAMers and their families to become U.S. permanent residents because I believe that most, if not all, are hard workers and are asking just for an opportunity to have rights and not more than that… a chance to legalize their status, so they can get a job and apply to college and have a normal life as everyone else…to be a human being before the law.

But, I would also like organizers and advocates to read the DREAM Act closely to inform those who would benefit from the DREAM Act. Also, passing the law would, according to the report, not be enough. Grassroots would have to work hard informing DREAMers that they may not qualify for permanent residency if they do not complete the two years.

My concern is that many youth are really “ilusionados” believing the DREAM Act would be the passport to the American life they want to have and probably would be disappointed when they realize it is not quite like they thought. They really need to be informed of what to expect.

My academic concern is that laws that give partial rights continue to perpetuate discrimination and racialize people.

I also know that in politics one has to compromise. But I hate when those “compromises” have real life consequences on real people. I hate seeing some getting rights and others not due to a law. All people deserve to have access to the same opportunities based on the fact of being a human being but these laws categorize people into tiers.

By: Dina Ochoa

Dina Ochoa — Thu, 29 Jul 2010 16:17:36 +0000

It is really informative article and well explained. Sue, Great Job!
I believe I was able to get both points. Is the DREAM ACT a real Dream? Or just a fantasy based on the misconception from the community and the DrEAmERS?

The fight has been for 9 years by now and back in 2001 we failed to pass the DREAM ACT because we were not satisfied with the conditions, because we wanted more, we said NO to what the government offered us, because we wanted an Immigration reform for all of us; which I’m not against it. Of course, we will keep fighting for our HUGE family. But let’s take a minute; what would have happened if the Dream Act passed back in 2001?

9 years later, that little percentage of Latinos Students whom would be able to afforded an Associate degree or joined Military for 2 yrs. NOW, 9 years later, they would be permanent residents, looking for their citizenship; actually, they would be 2 years apart from being US Citizens and then looking for and to summit their parents’ and sons/daughters applications for their permanent residents, NOW, 9 years later, We still in ZERO, all of us still under the shadows. Let think about it! Do we want 10 mores years to say yes?

By: Nicole Catá

Nicole Catá — Wed, 28 Jul 2010 20:27:19 +0000

Terrific post! Definitely a timely topic: http://www.commondreams.org/newswire/2010/07/27-7