Sen. Dick Durbin (D-Ill.) reintroduced the federal DREAM Act on Wednesday to give undocumented students a chance to remain in the United States .
The bill would allow students to remain in the U.S. as long as they enter the country before the age of 15, are long-term residents who have stayed for at least five years, show good moral character, graduate from high school or pass a General Educational Development test and complete two years of college or military service.
In a video address posted on Durbin’s YouTube channel, he cited the case of a Korean American woman who called his office for help 10 years ago because her daughter had been admitted to the Juilliard School but was undocumented.
“I didn’t think that was right, to punish her for something she hadn’t done wrong,” Durbin said in the video. “It was just unfair and unjust, so I wrote the DREAM Act.”
In a news statement, Durbin said the act would benefit the armed forces and stimulate the economy. It also excludes immigrants ineligible for relief due to criminal histories or national security reasons.
The introduction of the act is a step forward, said Stephen Smith, director of organizing for the Illinois Coalition for Immigrant and Refugee Rights. Smith added the bill will not drastically change the work of ICIRR.
“Our job is still to win some relief for these DREAM students but also to win relief from the president for their parents,” Smith said. “It can’t just be about the DREAM students. It has to also be about the parents and other undocumented families to make sure they are being supported.”
Durbin held a conference call with ICIRR last week, and Smith said Durbin admitted it will be hard to pass the bill, but he will keep trying.Among the obstacles the bill faces are the economy and Republican opposition, especially from southern border states concerned about illegal immigration, said Joshua Noah, the president of Northwestern University College Democrats.
“In tough economic times, people incorrectly believe that illegal immigrants take, whereas they really help create jobs,” the Weinberg sophomore said.
U.S. Sen. Jeff Sessions (R-Ala.) said in a news statement that the DREAM Act would not fix the immigration system and represents ignorance of the public’s will.
“Over the last year, the Senate Democrat Leaders have introduced five versions of the DREAM Act, each seeking to add billions of dollars to the federal deficit with no committee review,” Sessions said last Wednesday. “Today, Senator Durbin and others reintroduced the DREAM Act legislation under those same circumstances, demonstrating that the Democrats are still ignoring the public’s plea to secure our border and to establish lawful immigration reform.”
Although the act does not solve all problems relating to immigration, it has the potential to have a positive impact on universities such as NU, said SESP senior Maria Salazar, a former undocumented immigrant. She said NU’s current policy only allows federal financial aid, so the undocumented students currently at NU have to pay for their education on their own completely. This would continue if the federal DREAM Act does not pass. The act does not thoroughly reform the immigration system, she added.
“For me, the overall goal is something like a comprehensive immigration reform that would provide a path to legalization for qualified undocumented immigrants, so I would include families as well, so not just the children,” Salazar said. “But I think the students, the organizers, everyone who’s working for the federal DREAM Act are also aware of that. I don’t think the DREAM Act in itself is viewed as a end-all to immigration reform. I think it’s an important step forward.”
