Last week, Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid announced that he would include the DREAM Act as an amendment to the Department of Defense authorization bill, set to come to the floor of the Senate this week.
Here’s what President Obama had to say about it:
Now, the Senate is going to have a chance to do the right thing… when Senator Reid brings the DREAM Act to the floor. … I will do whatever it takes to support the Congressional Hispanic Caucus’ efforts to pass this bill so that I can sign it into law on behalf of students seeking a college education and those who wish to serve in our country’s uniform. It’s the right thing to do. We should get it done.
While many is Washington thought any progress on immigration reform would be put on the back-burner for at least this year, we now have an opportunity to make a big step in the right direction on immigration reform.
There’s a lot of benefits to providing children of immigrants with a path to citizenship.
From the Immigration Policy Center:
- The DREAM Act would give beneficiaries the opportunity to increase their standard of living – and their tax contributions: If legalized, DREAM Act beneficiaries would have access to greater educational opportunities and better jobs, which in turn means more taxable income. According to a study from Arizona State University, an individual with a bachelor’s degree earns approximately $750,000 more over the course of his/her lifetime than an individual with only a high-school diploma.
- The DREAM Act would save taxpayers money: A RAND study from 1999 shows that raising the college graduation rate of Hispanics to that of non-Hispanic whites would increase spending on public education by 10 percent nationwide, but the costs would be more than offset by savings in public health and benefits, as well as by increased tax revenues resulting from higher incomes.
- The DREAM Act keeps talented students in the United States: Letting the talent of DREAM Act students go to waste “imposes economic and emotional costs on undocumented students and on U.S. society as a whole.” The DREAM Act would stop brain drain by allowing our most talented students to remain in the country.
Take a minute now and take action to give children of immigrants a chance at the American dream.