The document discusses the Dream Act, which would provide a path to legalization for people who were brought to the US illegally as children under the age of 16. It aims to help those who have grown up and been educated in the US but face deportation or inability to work or attend college legally otherwise. The Dream Act would grant conditional permanent residence to undocumented high school graduates who complete 2 years of college or military service. It is not considered amnesty, which provides immediate citizenship, but rather shows mercy with conditions. The document argues Congress must pass the Dream Act to prevent these individuals from facing a life of illegality and to avoid creating a subclass that relies on crime and welfare.

1. The Dream Act - A Sane Solution to a
Sad Situation
The Dream Act was first introduced to Congress several years ago, but has
failed to become law since that time. The Dream Act was once again introduced
to the Senate on May 11. Many children have been brought to the USA illegally
by their parents. Some were mere infants or toddlers, when they arrived. The
Dream Act has as its goal a path to legalization for people, who were under the
age of 16, when they were brought to the USA without appropriate visas.
These children have been raised and educated in the USA. Very often they have
no connections to the country, where they were born.
The Immigration Laws require them to leave the USA, when they turn 18 or
face serious consequences, even if they marry U.S. citizens. They are unable to
attend college, get a driver's licence or work legally.
It is as though they have grown into the "crime" of being here illegally.
Who will Benefit From the Dream Act?
The Dream Act would only grant conditional permanent residence to
undocumented high school graduates or GED recipients, who were brought
here when they were younger than 16 and who have been physically present in
the United States for at least five years. This "conditional" status would be
removed and the person would be granted an unrestricted green card after six
years once the student has either completed two years in a program for a

2. bachelor's degree or higher degree or has served in the armed services for at
least two years and, if discharged, has received an honorable discharge.
So this Act will be limited to serious students and will not benefit high school
dropouts. In addition to the high school graduation or GED, the beneficiaries
will have to complete 2 years towards a bachelor's degree or complete 2 years of
honorable military service.
The DREAM ACT is Not Amnesty.
Amnesty was a law that gave green cards to everyone, who was in the country
illegally for at least 5 years in 1986. Amnesty was also granted to people who
were farm workers, who had been in the country illegally for 3 months.
Amnesty was a wholesale, unmitigated, immediate pass for anyone of any age,
who could prove that they had broken the law for at least 5 years (or 3
months). The Dream Act will be an act of mercy with significant strings
attached to it.
Amnesty is defined as an act of forgiveness for past offenses, especially to a
class of persons as a whole.
In order to commit an offense most civilized nations require that a person
knowingly forms the intention to break the law and then breaks the law. The
These children did not have the intention of breaking any laws. The grew into
breaking the law.
Furthermore, the benefits of the Dream Act are not available to all people, who
were brought here illegally.
First Secure the Borders.
There are many people, who insist that before we consider any laws reforming
our failing immigration legal system, we must first secure the borders and only
then will they discuss any changes to our immigration laws.
There is no question that the USA should have secure borders. But to leave
graduate high school teenagers hanging and suffering for the "sins" of their
parents, until the borders are secure is not the American way of justice.
Why Congress Must Act Now? If you may not work or drive legally in the USA,
you are caught in a web of illegality. While many people will say, "Get out of the
USA and go home", the reality is that the USA is "home" to these teenagers.

3. So when these high school graduates suddenly face a world, where everything
their former class-mates do after graduating school is now illegal for them,
what are their "real" options?
The U.S. Supreme Court in 1982 in the decision of Plyler v Doe observed that
denying illegal immigrant children a proper education would likely contribute
to "the creation and perpetuation of a subclass of illiterates within our
boundaries,
There is an irony in our law, where we spend millions perhaps billions of
dollars on the education of illegal immigrant children to avoid a criminal and
welfare class, yet once they are educated, these lost souls face the darkness of
the underbelly of our society, often leading to crime and the reliance on
welfare. Then we must deal with the costs of crime and welfare.