As college students at one of the nation’s premier universities, we understand that higher education can, quite basically, open the door to our future. Whether it’s a networking event that introduces us to a future boss, or a class that makes us re-evaluate what we want to do with our lives or just the realization that we’re capable of taking care of ourselves, college changes our lives by launching us into a whole new world. As such students, we believe that Congress should pass the DREAM Act, giving a class of students — undocumented immigrants — that traditionally lack the ability to open the door, a key to higher education.
Currently, the 65,000 undocumented students in this country are largely unable to attend college due to their murky citizenship status. The DREAM Act would provide a closely monitored path to a Green Card for those students who can prove they had no role in their family’s decision to migrate to the United States. These students are currently the innocent victims of the system; changing the regulations will give them the ability to change this and, through education, ostensibly become contributing members of U.S. society.
We realize this bill plays into the highly controversial question of how to handle the millions of illegal immigrants in the country, an issue that we freely admit we don’t know how to solve. But the DREAM Act helps tailor the focus of the debate, making it more likely that the country will one day settle a huge question. Beyond that, though, it does the right thing by these students. Continuing to keep the door closed hurts everyone more than it helps anyone.
