Dream Act becoming a Nightmare

"Dream Act: Top Students Among Illegal Immigrants," by Diana Marcum
December 2, 2010 of the Los Angeles Times

http://articles.sfgate.com/2010-12-02/bay-area/25002970_1_illegal-immigrants-dream-act-alien-minors-act

This story, in a nutshell, states that some of California's best and brightest students are the sons and daughters of illigel immigrants, who, not having been born here are threatened with deportation at any time. Much like the LGBT community, these students live in fear of being outed and then being permanently outed from the country they call home. The Dream Act was created to address this problem.

For my own understanding, I checked the Dream act on Wiki and got this. Please bear with me:

The DREAM Act (acronym for Development, Relief and Education for Alien Minors) is an American legislative proposal first introduced in the Senate on August 1, 2001[1] and most recently re-introduced there and the United States House of Representatives on March 26, 2009. A Senate filibuster blocked it on December 18, 2010.

This bill would provide conditional permanent residency to certain illegal and deportable alien students who graduate from US high schools, who are of good moral character, arrived in the U.S. illegally as minors, and have been in the country continuously for at least five years prior to the bill's enactment, if they complete two years in the military or two years at a four year institution of higher learning. The students would obtain temporary residency for a six year period. Within the six year period, a qualified student must have "acquired a degree from an institution of higher education in the United States or [have] completed at least 2 years, in good standing, in a program for a bachelor's degree or higher degree in the United States," or have "served in the uniformed services for at least 2 years and, if discharged, [have] received an honorable discharge."

Back in November, Cal State Fresno Student Body President Pedro Ramirez was outed by an anonymous tip. In a story in the LA Times he said, "In a way, I'm relieved," said Ramirez, a 22-year-old political science major from Tulare, Calif. "I don't want to be a liability or cost the school donations. I never really thought this was going to happen. But now that it's out there, I finally feel ready to say 'Yes, it's me. I'm one of the thousands.' "

In a KFSN radio interview from Fresno, Ramirez said, "When you lie or when you hold something back or you hold it in. It kind of blinds you and you don't know what to do. So coming out of the shadows and telling people what I am and what I've been through you know it's a big relief for me." said Ramirez.

Another Student, David Cho, is the drum major at UCLA and carries a 3.6 GPA. He came here from South Korea when he was 9. He told the world about his illegal status. He said, "At first my parents said, 'What are you doing? You're risking so much,' "But I told them, 'It's not only me. There are thousands of students like me trapped in a broken system. Unless our generation speaks out, the politicians won't tackle it. They have to see our faces.'"


He added, "I didn't know what would happen to me. Maybe I'd be deported," he said. "It seems funny now, but I wrote a will - a long, last letter to my family and friends."

I included these quotes because I think the message is much more poignant coming from those who are affected by the government's policy on illegal immigration. This story will continue to cause controversy in education policy for a long time to come. It needs to be addressed, especially in states like California where immigrant populations are so high. It doesn't make sense to me to deport contributing members of our society. Just one person's opinion.