The Dream Act: a missed opportunity

By Editorial

On Oct. 24, the U.S. Senate sent a clear message to the American people: that they are far more interested in playing politics than in enacting real, pragmatic immigration policy.

With only 52 senators voting yes, the Senate fell eight votes short of the required 60, and thus refused to debate the Dream Act, a piece of legislation that would have constituted a genuine step forward in the immigration debate in this country.

The Development, Relief and Education for Alien Minors Act would have provided a real path to citizenship for immigrants who were brought here illegally by their parents and grew up in America.

If undocumented immigrants under the age of 30 could provide proof that they had arrived here before the age of 16, graduated from an American high school, lived here for five years with a clean criminal record and completed or planned to complete two years of college or military service, they would be eligible for citizenship.

Undocumented immigrant youth would have been eligible for a chance to gain what so many undocumented immigrants want -- a chance to prove themselves as law-abiding, contributing members of American society.

What the 44 senators who voted against this bill failed to realize was that the children of undocumented immigrants wouldn't have been the only people who gained something from this bill. Our society as a whole would have benefitted.

Even while the American labor market suffers from a lack of qualified workers, and the military struggles to recruit and retain soldiers for long-term commitments in Iraq and Afghanistan, the Senate still felt it was more important to cling to divisive, polarizing ideology.

Some senators claim that the bill constituted blanket, undeserved "amnesty," or that the Dream Act would encourage more immigrants to try to enter the country illegally.

Let's be clear on both of these points. The requirements of the Dream Act ensure that any kind of "amnesty" these immigrants could receive would be based on hard work and merit.

And poverty in the developing world is what drives illegal immigration. The influx of immigrants won't be stopped by denying basic opportunities to those that are already here.

Last year, seven undocumented immigrants crossed the stage at graduation, shook hands with University President Paul Locatelli, S.J., and received a diploma from Santa Clara. But without access to documents like social security numbers and driver's licenses, most of these educated, qualified young people will struggle to find work.

By refusing to offer a path to citizenship to deserving undocumented immigrants, we are missing an opportunity to end the cycle of poverty and struggle that brings undocumented immigrants here in the first place. Giving these immigrants access to the job market would benefit them, their families and their employers.

Punishing young people for the actions of their parents is not only bad public policy, it is immoral.

At some point, the government and general public must realize that while increased security may be needed to protect our borders, more border guards and fences will not help us answer the question of how to integrate the millions of undocumented immigrants who are already here.

The Dream Act constituted a real opportunity to address these issues. But the U.S. Senate wasn't interested in taking advantage of it. And as a result, we will all suffer.