Dreaming of College: A Path to Higher Education for Undocumented Students
At the end of March, a bipartisan group of senators and representatives reintroduced in Congress the
DREAM Act
, legislation I am co-sponsoring that would provide 360,000 undocumented high school graduates with legal means to work and attend college in the United States. The bill (whose acronym stands for Development, Relief, and Education for Alien Minors) may well reinvigorate public furor over immigration, and will no doubt receive even greater attention when the College Board releases what will be a groundbreaking report, “Young Lives on Hold: The College Dreams of Undocumented Students.”
Despite the bill’s bipartisan support and previous Republican leadership on this legislation, cries for a “return home” to native countries may surface, and some may claim undocumented students will usurp our school seats and funding.
Given this potential reaction, there is cause for clarification, since many concerns are unfounded. In fact, the projected results of this legislation may be surprising to skeptics. The DREAM Act would provide a serious shot in the arm to our struggling economy, and, if it is passed, our educational investments would...
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