Vote To Pass the DREAM Act

Today begins the first day of the final round of voting at change.org to pass the Dream Act and support higher education for ALL students. The last day to cast your vote is January 15 by no later than 5:00pm ET. Change.org will present its top 10 "ideas for change" to the Obama administration on January 16th at the National Press Club in Washington, D.C.

The fact is many American students graduate from college and high school each year, and face a roadblock to their dreams: they can't drive, can't work legally, can't further their education, and can't pay taxes to contribute to the economy just because they were brought to this country illegally by their parents or lost legal status along the way.

Utah's Senior Republican Senator Orrin Hatch had this to say about the situation affecting these students:

“In short, although these children have built their lives here, they have no possibility of achieving and living the American dream. What a tremendous loss for them, and what a tremendous loss to our society.”

The DREAM Act (Development, Relief, and Education for Alien Minors Act), is a bipartisan legislation that would permit these students conditional legal status and eventual citizenship granted that they meet ALL the following requirements:

--if they were brought to the United States before they turned 16, are below the age of 30,
--have lived here continuously for five years,
--graduated from a U.S. high school or obtained a GED
--have good moral character with no criminal record and
--attend college or enlist in the military.

For more on the DREAM Act and to cast your vote, visit change.org at this link

Hat tip to Jennifer McFadyen at About.com for letting us know about the DREAM Act vote at change.org. Read more from Jennifer at her Immigration Issues Blog at www. immigration.about.com

Posted in: DREAM ACT,Higher Education