6.6.10

To have a dream

The other day on the train in Astoria (shout out to Veronika and Nora), I saw a high school aged girl wearing a button on her shirt that said, "D.R.E.A.M. Act." Immediately, I googled it and found this website, which proports a "conditional path to citizenship" for undocumented young people who have lived in the United States for most of their lives and consider themselves to be culturally American--yes, for some, that's more than just eating McDonald's and wearing Nikes.

I haven't gone through the whole site yet, but from what I can see, the proposed legislation is, for the most part, well-intentioned. There are a few gaping holes, however, such as the fact that in order to qualify, you must have entered the country before age 15. Sorry. If your little brother was 14 and you were 16, he gets the gold and you don't. Another qualification is to be of "good moral character." I don't even have to go into why this makes no sense. Are we talking go-to-church-on-Sundays good or okay-I've-cheated-on-a-test-but-just-once good?

I have to read more before I come to any concrete judgments, but it's refreshing to see that some sort of non-aggressive action is being taken, even if there is a long way to go.

There's some more information about the DREAM Act and an interview over at one of my favorite human rights blogs, VivirLatino.

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