LatinaLista — Momentum to pass the DREAM Act is accelerating.
Today, the White House issued a statement saying that President Obama had met with several representatives from the Congressional Hispanic Caucus (CHC) and he supported the strategy of the CHC to get this lameduck Congress to pass the DREAM Act.
At this point, passing the DREAM Act is as much a moral issue, as it is, a political one. The young people who have tirelessly fought for its passage deserve it — plain and simple.
We know the majority of the American people do not want to hurt these young people nor are they buying the trash talk of those who claim these students don’t deserve to become citizens.
They do.
These young people have gone above and beyond paying whatever imaginary dues people try to impose upon them just to illustrate they have authority over them.
It seems to be forgotten that these young people were BROUGHT to this country at a young age. They did not choose it. To try and criminalize these young people for being victims of their circumstances is cruel, disingenuous and is so polar opposite to what America stands for that it’s heartbreaking as a U.S. citizen to see the leadership of this country being hijacked by a few very vocal, ignorant individuals who lack compassion, reason and tolerance.
As if further proof was really needed to show why the DREAM Act should pass, tomorrow the UCLA North American Integration and Development (NAID) Center will release preliminary findings of a study that calculates the income of DREAM Act beneficiaries over a forty-year time period representative of the work-life of 25-65 year old employed individuals.
The report No DREAMers Left Behind: The Economic Impacts of Dream Act Beneficiaries underscores the obvious to anyone who knows that when more people are put to work, they generate more income for the country.
According to the study’s findings, if 825,000 youth were legalized through the DREAM ACT, they will potentially generate $1.38 trillion over their work-life. In the second, “No DREAMers Left Behind” scenario, if 2.1 million beneficiaries were legalized, they would potentially generate $3.6 trillion over their work-life.
These findings are not manufactured propaganda. In fact, over the last year several reports from professionals, with and without a stake, in seeing the DREAM Act passed have released similar findings, if not the same.
The bottom line is no young person should ever have their ambitions or their aspirations dismissed or disregarded. As cliche as it sounds, these young people are the future and this country will need every able-bodied, educated person it can get for this country to succeed.
