LatinaLista — Of all the issues with which Congress should have an easy time, there is one that still proves to be a hurdle for some members to wrap their minds around — the DREAM Act.
As regular readers know, the DREAM Act acknowledges the plight of undocumented students who have been raised in the United States since they were young. The DREAM Act would give these students an opportunity to receive an education and put their degree to work or serve in the military on their way to gaining U.S. citizenship.
Most everyone agrees it’s a bill that makes common sense since these students know life only as Americans. And according to a new study to be released it makes even more sense to get these students into the proverbial American fold.
A soon to be released study by the UCLA North American Integration and Development Center finds that the estimated 800,000 youth legalized through the DREAM ACT will potentially generate $1.38 trillion dollars over their work-life.
Yet, even with reports pointing out the national benefit of recognizing these youth, too many members of Congress still refuse to do what is right by these children. It’s clear that it will take many more voices added to the current crop of students, immigrant advocacy groups, civil rights, education and religious groups, as well as, Hispanic media to convince Congress that this bill must be passed.
Those voices are poised to join the fight.
The million-strong advocacy group, MomsRising.org, is joining the DREAM Act lobbying effort. According to a blog post published on their site, 72 percent of women support the DREAM Act; 80 percent of Democrats and 60 percent of Republicans also support the DREAM Act.
But it’s a matter of reaching those congressional representatives who are undecided.
To do that, MomsRising.org has created an unique campaign. They are collecting quotes from mothers as to why Congress needs to pass the DREAM Act. Once the quotes are gathered, they will be presented to members of Congress.
With these mom-quotes, we’ll tell our elected leaders it’s time to stop snoozing, sleepwalking and stalling. Moms across the country want our representatives in D.C. to wake up and make the DREAM possible for all children in our nation.
MomsRising is asking mothers to finish the following statement: “I’m a mom and I support the DREAM Act because______________________.”
The statement can either be signed with nothing more than a first name and the state in which you live or can be signed “anonymous.” Afterwards, http://www.momsrising.org/the statement should be e-mailed to Dream@momsrising.org.
