The Right Action

The reality that immigration policies and registration requirements create for undocumented students is a grim one; despite their scholarly capability, thousands upon thousands of undocumented students who have completed high school do not continue on with their education because of the lack of legal paperwork (DREAM Act). This has been the story line for countless undocumented valedictorians, like Grecia Cantu, who’s dream of going to Baylor University to become a teacher was plucked by a simple mandate of Congress (Smith). Despite having a presidential scholarship to Baylor University, Grecia’s future is hampered by her illegal status in the country and the inactivity of the DREAM Act in congress, which is due largely to its brisk opponents. Critics of the legislation falsely advocate that it grants preferential treatment to undocumented students (Malkin 1). In reality, the DREAM Act only grants qualifying individuals with a temporary residency, a driver’s license, and a work permit (Giving the Fact). This allows the students who meet the criteria the same tuition rates as natural-born citizens and a legal way to work and drive in the country. Another resounding critic among the opponents of the bill includes the common misconception that the DREAM Act will provide amnesty and forgive the federal offense immigrants committed when they entered the country illegally (Smith). In truth, only immigrants who entered the country during their youth, before age 16, are eligible for the benefits of the legislation. Once they apply, they will have to fulfill the requirements of completing a 2-year college or serve a 2-year term in the armed forces to finally receive resident status, not citizenship, after 6 years of proved residency (Creating Opportunities). If Congress allowed this legislation to

Imagine that you are a senior in high school. You are nervous and excited to start the process of getting a job and attending college. You obtain a couple of job applications and a Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA) to fill out. Naturally, as you fill out these forms you ask your parents for your social security number, however, this is the moment you find out that you are undocumented. Shocked and in disbelief, you can’t help to see all your hopes and dreams go down the drain. Nevertheless, like many other undocumented students, you discover there is still hope for your situation. For instance, your research leads you to former President Barack Obama’s Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) program, which protects minors who were brought to this country illegally as children. Created through executive action in June of 2012, DACA gives young undocumented immigrants: protection from deportation and a work permit. Subsequently, on September 5th, 2017, the Trump administration rescinds the DACA policy, and approximately 800,000 young immigrants will become eligible for deportation at the end of six months. Therefore, the only way to update our immigration system is for Congress to pass immigration reform, which offers a pathway to citizenship, plus, acknowledge that the 14th Amendment applies to homosexual conduct and illegal aliens.

About 400,000 illegal immigrants come to the United States each year, each one with their own story and reasons. These illegal immigrants often have sorrowful stories that make you want to sympathize with them, but these immigrants never think about how their presence affects the United States. On September 5th, “President Trump and Attorney General Jeff Sessions announced the end of the DACA program; they contended that undocumented immigrants took economic opportunities away from citizens and lawful permanent residents” (DREAM). The DACA program was created in 2012 by President Obama and allowed illegal immigrants to stay in the United States. Recently, President Trump ended the program, but gave Congress a window to formulate a better plan

On June 15, 2012 President Obama put in an executive order called DACA (Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals) which cancelled or delayed any form of punishment to these migrants from deportation of their children if their

In the United States, there are hundreds of thousands of people whose safety in this nation is in jeopardy. The recipients of DACA, a deportation protection program, rely on its benefits to remain in the US. Not only does DACA keep many people safe, but it provides a variety of benefits outside of simply being protected from deportation. The impacts of DACA on society, the economy, and health vastly outweigh the possible negatives it has on the United States.

The DREAM Act plays a big role in the nation’s effort to have the highest proportion of graduates in the world by 2020 (Miranda). Allowing this to pass would reduce the drop out rate significantly all throughout the country. 65,000 undocumented students graduate from high school every year. In Luis Miranda’s Get The Facts On The Dream Act, Secretary of Education, Arne Duncan has stated that passing the Dream Act will allow “these young people to live up to their fullest potential and contribute to the economic growth of our country.” It gives students the incentive to go through school and get a degree. When undocumented students are attending school, some colleges wont accept them. Knowing that, they do not have the drive or interest in pursuing a college degree. A lot of immigrants now will finish high school, get there diploma, then go find a job. Having this bill passed will change the education in the United States forever.

DACA was created by the Obama administration in June of 2012 with the vision to relief deportation and giving protection to foreign minors who entered the country illegally so that they could stay, work and get education without being deported to their country of origin. DACA has been entitling to controversy and uncertainty since the Trump administration because this action provides the recipients the opportunity to receive a two year renewable deferral of deportation, a work permit and benefits provided by the government. This action has been rescind by the President Donald Trump on September of 2017; more than 800,000 recipients (known as DREAMers) are left with concerns, worriers and fears of being deported to their country of birth because their families, education, friends and life is here in The United States.

"Supporting undocumented students in their pursuit of college, career and citizenship." Deferred Action for Childhood A

In June 2012 the Obama administration announced the creation of the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) program. The program grants deferred action (protection from deportation) and work authorization to certain young unauthorized immigrants who came to the United States as children, have pursued an education, and have not committed serious crimes or pose no national security threat (Hipsman, Faye, and Doris Meissner, 2014). Individuals who are granted DACA status are considered as being "lawful presence," regardless of their citizenship which makes individuals eligible for driver's licenses and other state-determined benefits where states choose to grant them (Adams, Angela, and Kerry S. Boyne, 2015). The individuals who apply to DACA have to go through intense background checks, which includes fingerprint analysis, to make sure the individuals are safe for society. For all purpose DACA students are one step closer to legal status and have been deemed to be helpful to society. Many opponents of in-state tuition for undocumented students claimed that because the students could not legally work the state would lose money, however DACA has changed things forever. Now the DACAmented students can get jobs and pursue the careers they studied for in college (Adams, Angela, and Kerry S. Boyne, 2015). According to Migration Policy Institute, it is estimated that 1.7 million individuals are eligible for the DACA program. As of March 2013, the program's rolling application process has seen 469,530 requests and USCIS has approved 245,493 cases (Hipsman, Faye, and Doris Meissner, 2014). These immigrants pay taxes (i.e, sales taxes) and now they are working legally, which means more revenue for the state in both wage and sales taxes. The third policy alternative would ease the worries of anti-Texas Dream Act in the respect that the students

Watching them work hard and struggle instilled in me a strong work ethic and the desire to become successful. Years later, I was granted the opportunity to pursue my dream of receiving an education with DACA (Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals), which grants any immigrant who came into the U.S. before 2007, a work permit and exemption from deportation. Being a DACA student I have limited resources; limitations that have not shun my voice, but in fact have given me one. I earned the chance to attend the New Jersey Scholars Program, a competitive academic summer program designed for the top thirty-nine high school students in the state. This program was an eye-opening experience, which further ignited my passion for a higher education. Although the program provided me with a glimpse to my future, I was still faced with the reality that undocumented immigrant families encounter on a daily

You cannot watch the news lately without hearing something on DACA. DACA (Differed Action for Childhood Arrivals), which was an executive order signed by President Obama in hopes of encouraging congress to finally decide on immigration policies. DACA was created in 2012 by executive order by President Obama. According to the Immigrant Legal Resource Center DACA, “is a prosecutorial discretion that provides a work permit and relief from removal for two years to certain eligible undocumented youth (DACA Fact Sheet). The youth that are eligible for DACA must be currently in school, have graduated or have a GED (General Education Development) certificate, have a clean adult criminal record and must be at

The Development, Relief, and Education for Alien Minors (DREAM) Act is a controversial initiative in the United States that grants minor immigrants residency in the country and ensures that their educational needs are met. While the act has claimed to be beneficial to a certain portion of the population, it is widely argued that the program’s cost-effectiveness and societal effects have been unproven since its inception, and therefore; an alternative program is needed to fulfill the gap.

During the 2012 Obama Administration Former President Barack Obama signed a new act called DACA or The Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals which was an American immigration policy that allowed some individuals who entered the country illegally as minors to receive a renewable two-year period of deferred action from deportation and to be eligible for a work permit. Which every two years they would have to pay $800 to the government to be exempted from being deported. Furthermore DACA students could also go to school or college for free. The requirements for DACA are

United We Dream began in the 2000s, when key national advocacy groups, led by the National Immigration Law Center (NILC), developed an informal coalition of organizers and advocates to promote equal access to educational opportunities for immigrant youth. The Development, Relief, and Education for Alien Minors (DREAM) Act brought this group together. The DREAM Act would provide a path to citizenship for immigrant youth brought to the U.S. as children. There are about 1.8 million immigrants in the United States who might be, or might become, eligible for the Obama Administration’s “deferred action” initiative for unauthorized youth brought to this country as children. This initiative, announced on June 15, offers a two-year, renewable reprieve

There are 800,000 undocumented immigrants protected by the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) passed by President Obama. Those persons known as Dreamers were brought illegally to the United States at a young age by their parents. Now they have pursued careers, started families, they have contributed to the United States of America, our country, their country. But on Tuesday, September 5th, 2017, the former president Donald Trump ended this program, leaving thousands of families with the uncertainty that if they will be back together again or not. Dreamers have brought pride to this country, they have been admitted into the best universities, they have received the best scholarships such as Bill Gates scholarship. DACA’s deadline is October 5th; this is the last opportunity for the Dreamers to continue with their right to pursue their education. Dreamers have to stay in the United States and be legal citizens because they have spent their whole life here, they help the U.S. economy, they bring cultural diversity to the country, the Dreamers as their name states want to achieve the American dream by pursuing a better education.