Senator Brown Urged To Support DREAM Act

BOSTON/Government Center – Members of the Massachusetts Immigrant and Refugee Alliance Coalition (MIRA) and the Student Immigrant Movement (SIM) today urged MA Senator Scott Brown to vote yes in support of the DREAM Act (Development Relief and Education for Alien Minors) legislation when it comes up for a vote this week in the Senate. Brown has indicated he would oppose the legislation which provides a way to citizenship for young immigrants who agree to attend college or join the U.S. military. SIM member Ada Fuentes found out she was undocumented at the age of seventeen. “When my parents went to re-apply for asylum and we were denied.” Speaking at a City Hall press conference this morning Fuentes called on Senator Brown to support the measure because “I’m a member of the society of Massachusetts I’m a citizen of Massachusetts; I pay taxes. I want to go to school. I want to serve my community as best as I can and I can’t do that unless he votes for the DREAM Act. Because so many ‘dreamers’ in Massachusetts and across the United States would be affected by this.” OMB Audio Ada Fuentes a member of Student Immigration Movement (2:51) In an email this morning Senator Brown’s Washington D.C. press aide Felix Browne told OMB he was traveling and could not provide a written statement explaining the Senator’s position. He suggested using the web to find the latest Associated Press story about the issue. Several news outlets including the AP have been reporting that Brown “has said that he opposes the bill and sees it as ‘amnesty.’” But speaking at today’s City Hall press conference Aaron Spencer former Chair of the Massachusetts Board of Higher Education said the state and country benefits when these students are educated. “…I deal in facts. These are young people who are going to be with us. They are going to be part of our society. We know if they are educated they will make a bigger contribution to our society ” Spencer argued. “Educated people earn roughly twice the amount of money as uneducated people. In which case they will probably pay much more in the way of taxes.” Spencer’s comment elicited applause from the assembled activists and DREAM Act supporters. The veteran educator added that “…it’s really in our self interest not the young people’s self interest that we do the right thing [and support the DREAM Act].” OMB Audio Aaron Spencer former Chair MA Board of Higher Education (4:05) The legislation (S. 3992) now before the Senate after being passed in the House last week would authorize the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) and Bureau of Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) to grant “conditional nonimmigrant status” to the children of undocumented immigrants brought to the United States prior to their fifteenth birthday. The bill allows these young people to live and work in the U.S. lawfully and receive certain Social Security and Medicare benefits. According to Congressional Budget Office estimates handed out to reporters during the press conference today these newly authorized students and workers would “increase revenues by $2.3 Billion over ten years.” Data on revenue according to the CBO was compiled by the Joint Congressional Committee on Taxation. In that same ten year period according to the estimates direct spending by DHS plus social security Medicare and student loan payments would amount to $912 Million. Students would be able to pay in-state tuition rates under the bill. To be eligible for the program those who came to the U.S. at age 15 or younger graduate from high school and complete two years of college or service in the military could become a permanent resident after ten years. Thousands of students are affected by their lack of citizen documentation in Massachusetts. Many face detention and deportation to their countries of origin if discovered by ICE. Nationwide the Congressional Budget Office estimates there approximately 300 000 undocumented youth who have attended public schools found jobs and become active in their communities. Boston City Councilor At-Large Felix Arroyo joined MIRA and SIM in asking Senator Brown to change his mind. Said Arroyo: “Too often in our country in politics we like things oversimplified; we like things black and white. Our immigration system is much more complicated for us to start defining it as black and white. It’s much too easy for someone in the opposition to say ‘you support full amnesty.’ That isn’t true of many who support the DREAM Act. What we are saying are these are young people who were brought up and raised in this country. This is the culture they know this is the country they love. And they want to show that by serving in the military or serving this country through a professional career.” OMB Audio Boston City Counselor At-Large Felix Arroyo (1:35) Following the press conference OMB asked Student Immigrant Movement Development Director Renata Teodoro whether the organization was concerned about students who choose to serve in the military rather than go to college. Teodoro originally form Brazil said SIM was “fully committed” to helping students choose higher education. She said the organization accepts the idea that some people will choose the military as their path to citizenship. OMB Audio Renata Teodoro Student Immigrant Movement Development Director (3:06) The Senate is expected to vote on the DREAM Act this week. Web Resources http://dreamact.info/ http://www.simforus.com/ http://www.miracoalition.org/ http://www.cpresente.org/ http://www.scottbrown.senate.gov/public/ Bookmark/Search this post with: Delicious Digg StumbleUpon Reddit Newsvine Facebook Google Yahoo Technorati