LatinaLista — From all news accounts, the bill designed to fix our “broken immigration system” narrowly missed losing one of its key components of being an effective bill — addressing the humanitarian reality of the undocumented immigrants.
The missile sent to blow apart the current bill under debate was launched by Texas Republican Senator John Cornyn. Cornryn wanted the Senate to approve an amendment to the bill that would have permanently barred all convicted felons.
Or so he says in the official press release issued by his office.
Funny, but the “official” press release fails to mention that Cornyn didn’t just want convicted sex offenders, drug dealers and known members of terrorist groups to be barred but anyone who had been deported and re-entered the country.
Thankfully, Senator Kennedy was able to bypass the senseless points and include the ones that made sense from Cornyn’s original amendment in an alternative amendment he presented and got passed today.
That precious time was spent arguing on an issue that educated people should know doesn’t deal just not with reality but the facts, clearly exhibits who really wants immigration reform and who doesn’t.
It was clearly a stretch to say that every man and woman and child who gets deported and sneaks back across is as dangerous as convicted sex offenders or drug dealers.
What’s more realistic is to understand that the people who are deported, the vast majority of them, have their families here and in many cases are the sole breadwinners or caregivers of their families.
Why wouldn’t they do everything in their power to come back across and rejoin their families?
It’s just reality but Sen. Cornyn has never shown himself to be in touch with the illegal immigrant reality — and representing a state that is the second highest destination point for illegal immigrants — there’s no excuse as to why he doesn’t know.
That’s why, he’s going to be really surprised if he’s in DC come July and sees a caravan of cars with Texas license plates making their way up Pennsylvania Ave.
On July 16-17, “The Trip Towards a Dream” caravan carrying Texas college-age students, who also happen to be undocumented, are going to DC to tell Congress and whoever will listen to them that they have the ganas and the determination to make something more of themselves than just blue-collar workers — if they’re given the chance.
Dallas college students talk about their planned caravan to Washington.
(Source: dallasnews.com)
Students from colleges, universities and junior colleges from Houston and Austin, in addition to Dallas, hope to join other undocumented students from across the country in Washington to ask congressional leaders to support The Dream Act.
Cornyn should know that this is an important issue in a state like Texas where already 7,000 undocumented students take advantage of a state-wide law that lets them pay in-state college tuition.
Several states have recently passed laws not allowing these children the in-state advantage, even if they’ve lived all their lives in the state.
The Dream Act doesn’t just ask for in-state tuition prices so that higher education is more affordable but grants them citizenship if they came here when they were children and can show to have solid good morals.
By making these students eligible to work legally, ensures that this country will have a competitive workforce in the future — to carry us all forward.
It’s time to see the reality of what our future holds for us if we have significant numbers of young people unable to attend college or work legally.
There’s no more time to look at an alternate reality that is tempered by privilege that insulates from what is happening in the real world.
All these students deserve a chance and it’s up to the adults to make the right decision.
