Daily Dream: College Board, NYC Mayor Support DREAM

New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg recently announced his support for DREAM:

Right now, there are hundreds of thousands of children in our city who are not here legally - many of whom are not even aware of their immigration status. Once these children leave school, they face a heartbreaking reality that can extinguish the flame of an otherwise bright future. Ineligible for student loans and legal jobs, many of these children end up doing low-wage, off-the-books work, and some end up facing deportation.

The current system just isn't working. Why shouldn't our economy benefit from the skills these young people have obtained here in our public schools? It is senseless for us to chase out the home-grown talent that has the potential to contribute so significantly to our society. They're the ones who are going to start companies, invest in new technologies, pioneer medical advances. We need to welcome more immigrants, not deport those already here.

University of Florida students demonstrated last week to support the DREAM Act and persuaded the University to pass a resolution in support of the Act.

The College Board, an association of universities and educational organizations, issued a new report, "Young Lives on Hold: The College Dreams of Undocumented Students." 

From the report (p. 23):

Unlike any other time in our history, a segment of the nation's immigrant population is strongly encouraged to excel in middle and high school and to aspire to a postsecondary education. Yet our laws cut them off from the very means through which they can extend their educational experiences beyond high school, realize their plans, and reach their full academic and economic potential. Becoming a responsible adult in American society entails rites of passage that enable young people to make contributions to our country, and provides entrée to a host of rights and responsibilities. However, these children - many of whom had little knowledge of or involvement in the decision to migrate - are prevented from moving forward to pursue their college and career goals.

. . . a related concern that has been voiced about the DREAM Act is that it could take away seats in colleges and universities, as well as financial aid, from native-born students.  However, this fear is not borne out by the experiences of the 10 states that since 2001 have passed laws allowing undocumented students who attend and graduate from in-state high schools to qualify for in-state college tuition. These states are home to about half of the nation's undocumented immigrants.  . . . these measures tend to increase school revenues by bringing in tuition from students who otherwise would not be in college.

The pro-DREAM voices are growing.  The anti-DREAM voices are the same as they were last year and the year before: Ira Mehlman, Willie Gheen, and the other FAIR and CIS spokespersons who are good at condemning ambitious immigrant youth but not at coming up with effective solutions to social problems.