Why Do Moms DREAM?
Posted October 19th, 2010 by Mary OlivellaOdds are, if you are a mom, you’re one of the 72 percent of women in the United States who support the DREAM Act. [1]
But we want to know why.
First, a quick refresher: The DREAM Act is short for the Development, Relief and Education for Alien Minors Act. Currently, undocumented immigrant children who were brought to the U.S. at a young age and have grown up here have no way to become legal citizens and fully contribute to society. Upon graduating from high school, these children face an uncertain future, including barriers to college and risk of deportation to a country they often no longer remember. The DREAM Act would address this problem.
If passed, the DREAM Act would provide approximately 800,000 young adults with the opportunity to work legally without fear of deportation and ultimately earn permanent legal resident status if they meet certain requirements. These requirements include needing to show that they came to the U.S. before their 16th birthday, lived here for at least five consecutive years prior to the bill’s enactment, be of “good moral character,” earned a high school diploma or GED, and completed at least two years of college or military service.
The legislation could also prove to be a boost to our economy. A soon to be released study by the UCLA North American Integration and Development Center finds that the estimated 800,000 youth legalized through the DREAM ACT will potentially generate $1.38 trillion dollars over their work-life. (2)
Not surprisingly, a large majority of Americans support the DREAM Act including 80 percent of Democrats and 60 percent of Republicans, according to a poll conducted by First Focus, a bipartisan child advocacy organization.(3)
In spite of such widespread support, our elected representatives in Congress are pretty much sleepwalking on this issue.
Versions of the DREAM Act have been introduced into Congress, either alone or as part of larger legislation for the past nine years. And yet still Congress has failed to act.
What’s it going to take?
How about moms flexing their political muscles? Let’s tell Congress that as moms, we think it’s long overdue for them to wake up and do the right thing by these children and young adults.
Our elected representatives need to listen to mothers like Elaine Lindelef who says: “No good can come from the U.S. deporting hardworking, talented, devoted kids who grew up here, regardless of where they are from.”
Congress should also listen to Fiorenza Comunian whose daughter studied alongside undocumented students at UCLA: “They pay full tuition and they have proven they have the will and determination required to succeed. Granting them a path to citizenship will be an investment in this country’s future and an act of compassion that benefits everybody.”
Now, tell us, why do YOU support the DREAM Act ?
MomsRising, a million member advocacy organization, wants to hear from you. Simply complete this statement:
“I’m a mom and I support the DREAM Act because______________________.”
Then send your statement to Dream@momsrising.org. You can sign your first name and identify your state, or you can sign ‘anonymous’ and we will honor that. You can also drop us your comment below.
With these mom-quotes, we’ll tell our elected leaders it’s time to stop snoozing, sleepwalking and stalling. Moms across the country want our representatives in D.C. to wake up and make the DREAM possible for all children in our nation.
Footnotes 1 & 3: “Public Support for the Dream Act,” a public opinion survey commissioned by First Focus, June 2010. For more information, contact Wendy Cervantes, Senior Director of Child and Family Immigrant Policy, WendyC@firstfocus.net.
Footnote 2: Statement provided with permission from NAID founder and director Dr. Raul Hinojosa. For more information, contact Tolu Olubunmi, a consultant with First Focus, tolu@adaconsultingllc.com.
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15 Comments
October 21, 2010 at 4:57 pm by Andrea DelgadoI am not a mother but I am an activist, a daughter, sister, wife and friend who has firsthand experience and continuously witnesses with the challenges imposed by our immigration laws. The limitations are many and they prevent kids from: obtaining a driver’s license or state ID; traveling; paying in-state college tuition (even if they’ve live in the state); access to federal aid; working legally; having the legal recourse to use their college degrees or complain about abuses and discrimination in the workplace because their legal status can be used as a way to intimidate and abuse them. This is not what America is about and these kids deserve better.
I want to thank Momsrising for bringing this critical issue to the attention of millions of mothers who want nothing more than to have their children develop to their full potential and without limitations. Undocumented students want to go college and achieve legal status in order to contribute fully to our society and in doing so, improve the social and economic conditions of their families and their communities.
Voices of reason are well-received and desperately needed.
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Anita Reply:
October 21st, 2010 at 5:11 pm
@Andrea- it’s wonderful to see you here and to hear your voice in this dialogue. Thank you so much for sharing this important information. And yes– more voices of reason are needed and welcomed!
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Thanks Elisa and Mary for this amazing post (and everyone for the thoughtful comments). Like @Ingrid and @Alina, I’m a mom (of a beautiful three-year-old) and I support the Dream Act. I think there’s nothing more important than supporting the dreams of all of our children!
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October 20, 2010 at 4:32 pm by jamalI’m not a mom but I am one of the people who stand to benefit from the passing of the DREAM act and I want to thank everyone for the support. My mother thanks you as well. She raised me always keep my head up and even though things are a little difficult right now sites like this give me hope. Thank you.
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Anita Reply:
October 20th, 2010 at 5:47 pm
@Jamal- I love that you posted this! We love reading comments from kids and students as well as moms, dads, grandparents- everyone is welcomed here. Tell your mom thank you from us!!
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I am a mom, of a gorgeous 3 year old girl, and I support the DREAM Act because it would break my heart if my child was ever denied the opportunity to become a college student just because of where she was born. I think that every person on earth deserves a shot at having an education no matter where they come from or where they’ve been. I recently became a U.S. Citizen myself and I cannot say how lucky I feel to be able to go to school and be part of America’s work force. I think these kids deserve the same exact opportunity.
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Anita Reply:
October 20th, 2010 at 5:48 pm
@Alina- Thank you for writing that beautiful post.
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Just to give you an idea of what’s in my inbox, this letter is from Carmen Cornejo, a mother and DREAM Act activist in Arizona:
“I started advocating for the DREAM Act while volunteering for the internationally known Carl Hayden High School’s robotics program. They have been profiled on Wired Magazine, Readers’ Digest in several languages and on TV Nightline (http://www.wired.com/wired/archive/13.04/robot.html). There I found the most talented and accomplished students and discover that some of them are undocumented. My family made a pact of solidarity with them and I took the advocacy of the DREAM Act students as a full time job (unpaid, BTW). I could not have asked for a more exhilirating experience than to fight alongside to some of the best human capital of the USA to attain a legalization process.
“It has also being heartbreaking and frustrating. Knowing the challenges they face and specially the danger of detention, incarceration and deportation sometimes keeps me awake at nights. As a good mother, I care about them as I care for my own children.”
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Anita Reply:
October 20th, 2010 at 5:49 pm
@Elisa – thanks so much for sharing the comments you’re receiving. There are tons of folks out there with stories to share. I hope everyone who’s reading can take a moment to share your thoughts on why the DREAM Act is important. Even one sentence contributes to the conversation! Jump on in.
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Great piece, Elisa! Glad to see you carrying forward the dreams of so many youth in this country who are Americans in all but paperwork.
I support the DREAM Act because it is a simple matter of justice and fairness. Also, we should be preparing our kids for the future, not taking our country backward.
Keep it up!
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Elisa Batista Reply:
October 20th, 2010 at 4:09 pm
@Jackie, Thank you, Jackie! And thank YOU for all that you do to pay it forward.
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“I’m a mom and I support the DREAM Act because all children should be able to live in a world where the fulfillment of their dreams is actually a possibility. A piece of paper should not undo that.”
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Anita Reply:
October 20th, 2010 at 2:36 pm
@Ingrid – Thank you for sharing your comment!
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Thanks for bringing this to our attention; it is a sign of our times that this conversation is such a contradiction of what we are about and who we are as a country to relegate the education of children and well being of children to a political tool; a dull, senseless tool that takes us back not forward, to a past we should leave behind to a future for children born in this country.
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Elisa Batista Reply:
October 20th, 2010 at 4:10 pm
@Peggy, Thank you for your comment, Peggy!
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