In May of this year, Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.) reintroduced the DREAM Act. A few days ago, he wrote an opinion piece advocating for its passage. For those who aren’t clear what the DREAM Act entails, here’s a refresher: if you come to the United States before 16 years of age, live here for at least five years, graduate from high school, stay out of trouble, and either serve two years in the military or complete two years of college, you would be eligible to become a lawful resident (Reid, “Senate’s DREAM Act is win-win”).
It’s interesting to see what arguments Senator Reid makes in favor of the DREAM Act. The most fascinating for me was how he used the story of Corporal José Luis Gutierrez, a permanent resident from Guatemala who came to the United States undocumented. He says:
Hundreds of thousands of non-citizens fight in our military. And hundreds of thousands more want to serve our nation, which they love as their own. But they can’t, because their parents brought them here illegally, and, unlike Cpl. Gutierrez, they aren’t fortunate to qualify for one of the very few routes to legalization that exist.
While I’m not sure of the validity of this claim, it’s interesting because he is assumedly attempting to appeal to a conservative crowd, who might have a more positive view of immigrants that love the United States and want to serve in the military. In addition, he makes several other arguments in his opinion piece. If you would like to read more, click here.
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