DREAM Act Passes House, Going on to Senate

The U.S. House of Representatives passed the Development, Relief, and Education for Alien Minors (DREAM) Act of 2010 -- a piece of legislation that has had multiple versions--late Wednesday evening by a vote of 216 to 198.

The bill is expected to go before the Senate Thursday.

If passed by both houses, the current act would allow undocumented immigrants who were under the age of 16 when they were brought to the U.S. to be eligible for a green card if they have had at least two years of higher education or have been in the military; are of good moral character and have no criminal record that would make them inadmissable or deportable.

Some critics of the bill call it amnesty and say it rewards illegal immigrants. They also question the cost of passing the bill.

The Congressional Budget Office estimates the legislation would increase revenues by $2.3 billion over 10 years, increase spending by $912 million from 2011 to 2020 and give 1.1 million people conditional nonimmigrant (CNI) status over the next nine years.

Arguments for and against

U.S. Rep. Lamar Smith, R-Texas, said during a debate on the House floor late Wednesday that the cost of the bill would "skyrocket" after 2020. He also said government has no way to check fraudulent applications and passing the law will encourage other illegal immigrants to enter the country.

"Illegal immigrants can amnesty if they show hardship, if they just claim to be eligible under the legislation," Smith said. "This is a desecration of the democratic process and an insult to Americans who believe in the rule of law." 

The rapidly changing bill may have been confusing to some, but those who support the concept of the law remain consistent.

Rep. John Conyers, D-Michigan, and other supporters argued that the immigrants will have documentation because they have to have been in the country for at least the past five years and will have documents such as school records.

Esmeralda Godoy and Amairani Realivasquez, both 17-year-old leaders of Maine West High School's Hispanic Club think the DREAM Act is a good idea. The seniors, who are both of Mexican heritage, say they know people who would be affected by passage of the law. The two emailed Illinois GOP Sen. Mark Kirk to support the bill, along with other students in their Latino literature class in school.

"I think it's a good idea because I think everybody deserves a chance" to become a citizen, Godoy said.

Realivasquez said that she feels strongly about the legislation, especially since those eligible would include college students.

"I think they deserve to have the same freedoms that I, or any other citizen, deserve," she said.

Shrinking eligibility

One thing is clear to area immigration attorney Melissa Chavin of Chavin Immigration Law Office: with each revised bill, the pool of illegal immigrants able to benefit from the act shrinks.

"The difference between the laws is that each one of them is starting to be a little bit more of a compromise with the Republicans to make the class of people that can benefit from this law a little bit smaller," Chavin said. "So every time it's reiterated, it's a little bit less of a pro-immigration law."

In many cases, debate about the DREAM Act has centered on undocumented college students. Democratic Illinois Sen. Dick Durbin, who co-sponsored the last few DREAM Act bills, tells the stories of several illegal students on his website.

Opponents of the act decry allowing illegals  to compete with American citizens for financial aid.

It is true that the most recent legislation would allow states to provide higher education benefits to illegal immigrants, Chavin said. Previously, federal law did not allow illegals to get federally financed loans and state aid. But while the bill would give states the right to disburse federal funds, it would be up to the states to actually allow it, she said.

But Chavin said she focuses on a broader view of the legislation--the overall quality of life of undocumented immigrants who had no choice about being brought to the country illegally.

"It's about more than whether they're going to get financial aid," Chavin said. "These are people who do not have the same civil rights of anyone. They do not have a path to U.S. citizenship because they're undocumented."

Some of the millions of illegal immigrants in the country may have a parental link to citizenship or eventually marry a U.S. citizen, which can offer a path to citizenship, but others were brought to this country without any documentation at all.

"That means they really have no way of becoming legitimized here," Chavin said. "And this is the only country they've ever known."

Some guidelines of the Dream Act

Chavin noted several bullet points of the act's guidelines in a statement released Wednesday. They include but are not limited to the following. Read Chavin's statement in its entirety here.

She also noted that the latest House of Representatives version of the bill adds a $525 processing fee for an illegal immigrant to apply for conditional nonimmigrant (CNI) legal status, and a $2000 processing fee for extension of the status for another five years to make the act "financially neutral."

"There is now a five year 'check up' process midway through the ten years that a CNI must stay in this status before applying for permanent residence/green card status," Chavin explained.

For Conditional Nonimmigrant Status, immigrants must have: 

• Long residence, at least five years in the US
• Entry as a minor, at less than 16 years of age
• A U.S. high school diploma, GED or admission to a US college program
• Less than 30 years of age, on the date of enactment of the DREAM Act
• Good moral character maintained since they were brought to the U.S.
• They have not committed crimes that would make them inadmissible or deportable or had other grounds of inadmissibility or deportability
• No felonies or prison terms in aggregate over 90 days for three or more misdemeanors.

For conversion to green card status, the immigrant must have:

• Achievement of two years of higher learning or military service in the U.S.
• Secondary school attendance in the U.S.
• Good moral character during the entire period of holding this status (ten years at least)
• No inadmissible or deportable, no acts of persecution and no felonies or prison terms in aggregate over 90 days for three or more misdemeanors, as above
• Continuous residence in the U.S., no absences of more than one year, other than for U.S. military service

See Frank Medina's editorial on the DREAM Act .