Pros And Cons Of The DREAM Act

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The Golden Opportunity Many people have probably thought about how hard daily life must be for the undocumented immigrants in our country. For many it is nearly impossible to have modest success in the country without legal citizenship. This is especially true for undocumented youth in our country. It seems at times that these young people have no chance to pursue their dreams in this country and live a successful life here. That is why the DREAM Act was created, to give undocumented youth a chance to pursue higher education or serve in the military, while being given sanctuary from deportation. While the DREAM Act itself failed to pass congress multiple times, President Obama signed an order making the DREAM Act a reality. Called …show more content…

Critics of DACA, including some republicans, say that DACA gives “amnesty for some illegal immigrants” (Ashford-Grooms, Holan n.pag.). Children who had no choice in the matter of immigrating illegally into the US should not be punished for wanting to stay in the US and contribute to the national economy. DACA has rigorous entry guidelines that make it so that only the best make it into the program. An opposing side could argue that anyone who comes into the US illegally should be removed and made to return based on the legal immigration system. They think that DACA or the DREAM Act would give a “free pass” to citizenship to illegal immigrants. It is not a “free pass”, since applicants are required to prove their own eligibility. The government doesn't give the applicant anything but a chance to prove themselves worthy of being able to stay in the country to pursue their dreams. Whether it is an immigrant who graduates college and invents something new, or an immigrant soldier who helps defend the country, anyone who benefits from the DREAM Act will be a benefit to us all. As one might expect, the highest support of the DREAM Act comes from Latino voters. Somewhat surprisingly, “Republican-leaning Latinos also support the DREAM Act by a large margin: 52 percent strongly support and 23 percent somewhat support, totaling to 75 percent approval of the bill” (Why, n.pag.). Immigration reform has been cited as one of the top issues that Latinos are concerned about. 79 percent of Obama voters did support the DREAM Act and support DACA. In 2010, 60 percent of Latino voters said that immigration is one of the most important issues to