Under current law, 50-65,000 students graduate from American high schools each year who have been in the U.S. more than five years but who face limited prospects for completing their education or working legally in the United States because they were originally brought here by parents lacking immigration status. Among those prevented from completing their education are valedictorians, honors students, award winners, class presidents, and student leaders.

These young people deserve a fresh start, both in fairness to them and in our national interest. The DREAM Act would address this issue in two ways:

• by deleting a federal provision that interferes with a state’s right to determine which students qualify as “residents” for purposes of in-state tuition or other state education benefits; and
• by providing a mechanism for certain long-term resident immigrant students with good moral character to apply for legal residency so that they can work and otherwise fully participate in their communities.

Positive fiscal impact:

The DREAM Act would dramatically reduce dropout rates, with resulting substantial savings in criminal justice costs and use of public benefits, and it would sharply increase the amount of taxes paid by those who qualify. These fiscal contributions will pay back the educational investment within 3-4 years by conservative estimates, and thereafter taxpayers will continue to profit from the DREAM Act for decades to come.

Fairness:

The DREAM Act is a recognition of the fact that the young people at issue did not have a say in the decision to come to the U.S., and it is wrong to hold them fully liable for an immigration status that was derived from their parents. They should not be legally precluded from the achievements that they are able to earn by their own talent and hard work in the land where they were raised. The DREAM Act would give them the same opportunity to excel as their classmates... no more and no less. A resource: A disproportionate number of DREAM Act young people have excelled in our schools, and they are poised to repay our investment in their elementary and secondary education. They are a willing and ready American-educated workforce, many of whom want desperately to give back to their communities. Alan Greenspan and other economists and demographers tell us that we face a long-term labor crunch that threatens our economy in the decades to come, including shortages in teaching, nursing, the service sector and other occupations. DREAM Act beneficiaries can be part of the solution.

Reward character:

The most compelling reason to pass the DREAM Act is the young people themselves. They are survivors, almost all of whom have overcome the odds of growing up in tough neighborhoods and impoverished immigrant families to remain in school and to succeed. Nothing could be more American. These young people deserve to be rewarded for doing the right thing, not punished. In the Senate, the Development, Relief, and Education for Alien Minors (DREAM) Act will be introduced in the Spring by Senator Orrin Hatch (R-UT). By the end of the 107th Congress there were 7 Senate Republicans and 12 Democrats on the DREAM Act (S. 1291). The House version of the DREAM Act, H.R. 1684, is called the Student Adjustment Act. It was introduced on April 9, 2003 by Rep. Chris Cannon (R-UT) along with 15 Democratic and 15 Republican original cosponsors.