As DREAM Act Narrows–Still Worthy of Support

Julianne Hing writes for Colorlines:

Julieta Garibay came to the country when she was 12 and grew up in Texas, where she got her undergrad and then masters degrees in nursing from the University of Texas at Austin. “I consider myself an Austinite,” she said, but because she’s undocumented, she hasn’t been able to put her nursing degree to use the way she wants to. So she’s been fighting for the DREAM Act, a bill that would offer undocumented students like her a pathway to citizenship.

Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid made good on his pre-election promises to bring the DREAM Act up for a vote in lame duck session when he filed a new version of the bill, S. 3992, late Tuesday night. The new version contains several major compromises designed to win the necessary 60 votes for the bill when it comes up as early as next Monday.

Garibay dreams of one day working as a military nurse. But in the meantime the campaign coordinator for the University Leadership Initiative has turned to activism. She’s been organizing for the DREAM Act for six years and was a founding board member of United We DREAM. She sent a message to her fellow DREAM Act activists last night that as the clock counts down to the vote—she doesn’t want them to give up fighting.

Her message of encouragement was especially poignant because under the revised version, Garibay will no longer be eligible to benefit from the DREAM Act should it pass. The new language of S. 3992 brought the age cap of those who can apply from 35 down to 30 years old. Garibay turned 30 this summer.

“I am still hopeful that Congress members will recognize that we were minors when we were brought here,” Garibay said.

After a decade of advocacy, there are multiple versions of the DREAM Act floating around in both the Senate and the House. The one Reid introduced last night appears to be one of the harshest, strictly limiting how many and what kinds of undocumented youth will be able to benefit from the bill. At its core, the DREAM Act would allow undocumented youth who entered the country before the age of 16 and commit two years to higher education or the military to be eligible for permanent residency and ultimately, American citizenship.

Under S. 3992, the age cap for those who can benefit has been brought down from 35 to 30. It’s a significant compromise; some older versions of the DREAM Act didn’t even contain an age cap, which enraged immigration restrictionists. S. 3992 also institutes a 10-year waiting period, during which DREAM Act youth will be classified as “conditional non-immigrants” before they can be granted a permanent residency. The temporary-status waiting period used to be six years. But after that hurdle, the waiting period would begin anew. Once they’ve obtained green cards, DREAM Act youth would have to wait an additional three years before being eligible for citizenship. Read more…

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