What to do about the millions of illegal Mexican immigrants in the United States? President Obama took a first step to provide an interim solution for the most innocent among them — hundreds of thousands who came to the United States as children. The policy extends temporary legal status to young people who have been in the country for years, gone to school, and stayed out of trouble.
To deport or not to deport undocumented Mexicans has been a perennial question and hotbed issue for decades. There have been periods of calm when no one seemed to mind. There have been periods when the issue became so contentious that it was reminiscent of the pre Civil War era and the question of how to resolve the issue of slavery.
Analogizing the fervor generated around immigration to that of slavery may be a bit over-stated for some, but certainly not for others. Irrespective of what side of the issue you find yourself, one has to admit that it is as divisive as it is unifying.
We see it even now with the response to the action President Obama has taken. Just today, House Speaker, Republican John Boehner strongly criticized President Obama while simultaneously expressing concern for the immigrants it affects. Just as Congress has not acted on many issues, it has not acted on the Dream Act. DREAM is the acronym for Development, Relief, and Education for Alien Minors. Speaker Boehner even rebuffed the possible passage by Congress of a similar measure proposed by Republican Senator from Florida, Marco Rubio.
President Obama’s policy is modeled after the Dream Act and very similar to Senator Rubio’s plan, which he acknowledged as he decided to drop his effort at reform.
While the Obama policy is being widely criticized or praised along partisan lines: citizens should be asking, why hasn’t something more permanently been done at the national level?
The DREAM Act was originally introduced in the United States Senate in 2001. The last attempt at passing legislation in Congress was introduced in March 2009 by U.S. Senator, Richard Durbin, and House of Representative Howard Berman. A Senate filibuster on December 18, 2010 blocked its passage at the national level.
However, eleven states (Arkansas, California, Kansas, Maryland, Nebraska, New Mexico, Oklahoma, Texas, Utah, and Washington) have already passed legislation, which would make undocumented immigrants eligible for in-state tuition benefits at a state’s public colleges.
The description of the national DREAM Act legislation is as follows.
The purpose is to help those individuals who meet certain requirements have an opportunity to enlist in the military or go to college and have a path to citizenship, which they otherwise would not have without this legislation.
Supporters of the DREAM Act believe it is “vital not only to the people who would benefit from it, but also the United States as a whole. It would give an opportunity to undocumented immigrant students who have been living in the U.S. since they were young, a chance to contribute back to the country that has given so much to them and a chance to utilize their hard earned education and talents.”
Similar to President Obama’s policy, the national DREAM Act legislation furthers outlines a list of specific requirements needed in order to qualify for the benefits of the Act. Eligible undocumented immigrants must have:
- Entered the United States before the age of 16;
- Lived in the United States for at least five (5) consecutive years prior to the enactment of the bill;
- Graduated from a United States high school, or have obtained a GED, or have been accepted into an institution of higher education (college/university);
- Good moral character; and
- Must be between the ages of 12 and 35 at the time of application
With President Obama’s policy, like the DREAM Act pass al level, an undocumented individual meeting the requirements above, would also have to do a number of additional things to apply and become a permanent U.S. citizen.
Embroiled in partisan politics, President Obama’s deportation policy is a step to resolving the question: What should happen to the millions of illegal and undocumented immigrants living and working in America?
Isn’t it time that this perennial and divisive issue receive some serious redress?