Reduce Poverty in America: Pass the Dream Act

(I hope you're reading my colleague Dave's terrific Immigration blog, where he frequently covers the DREAM Act, which would allow young adult immigrants brought to the US as children to obtain legal status towards eventual citizenship.  You can learn more about the DREAM Act here.  Given that immigrant rights are closely intertwined with poverty and economic inequality, Immigration guest blogger Piash has graciously agreed to share his own story with us here, as a means to help us understand and support the DREAM Act. - Leigh)

In August 2008, the U.S. Census Bureau released 2007 data on poverty, incomes and health insurance coverage. The poverty rate in 2007 was 12.5 percent as in 37.3 million people. According to the Census the number of people living in poverty was up about 800,000 (36.5 million in 2006, 37.3 million in 2007).

A person earning less than $10,400 in 2008 is considered to be living in poverty. Since undocumented immigrants and their children often work in low wage jobs, have no health insurance, and live in overcrowded apartments, they are most certainly living in poverty. Contrary to the popular myth, undocumented immigrants do not qualify for welfare. As the Congressional Research Service points out in a 2007 report, undocumented immigrants, who comprise nearly one-third of all immigrants in the country, are not eligible to receive public "welfare" benefits. Yet these undocumented workers pay $7 billion per year to the Social Security Administration even though they will not be eligible for any of the benefits. [My emphases - LG]

As an undocumented immigrant student, I now know firsthand how poverty can affect low-income families. But this was not always the case.

In Bangladesh, my family belonged to the upper middle class. We lived in the city in a sprawling house. We had servants and a cook. We had two cars with drivers. I attended a private English school. Growing up in a third world country, I have seen people live in absolute poverty. Streets were littered with beggars and people living on sidewalks in flimsy tents. I never really stopped to think about what I was seeing. My ten year old self accepted the fact that there were poor people and I was glad I was not one.

When we moved to United States in 2000, we stayed at my aunt’s apartment. It was a two bedroom apartment and she and her husband lived in one bedroom while my grandma lived in the other room. My mom, dad, brother, and I slept in the living room for over a year. My father found a job at the nearby mall and walked there every day. My mom didn’t speak English at all and could not find a job.

For a while I didn’t understand what was happening. Why did I lose my own room? Why is it that a driver isn’t waiting downstairs to take me to school? I adjusted quickly and my life in Bangladesh became a distant memory of “happy times”. My parents fought constantly over money and it tore apart their 16 years of marriage.

We didn’t have a health insurance and when my brother had a fever and we took him to the emergency room, the hospital billed us $600 next week. Every time I get sick, I pray that I can get better on my own because the hospital is the LAST option. Until recently, I didn’t have a dental insurance and even though my gum bled frequently, I ignored it. When my dad lost his job in 2006, we were forced to move into my uncle’s basement. We couldn’t afford the next month’s rent for the tiny one bedroom apartment that we lived in since 2001.

In 2007, I graduated from high school and realized that I would have to pay out of state tuition at my state college even though I have been living here for over 6 years. Many people ask me why I didn’t just go back to Bangladesh if the condition here were so terrible. I asked my parents the same thing. They answered my question with a simple word: Education. They wanted me to have the best education possible even if it meant living in poverty.

My future is a dark tunnel at this point of my life. As an undocumented student, I can’t change the status that I have inherited from my parents. I do not qualify for scholarships, grants, or federal loans and I am forced to pay out of state tuition at my university. I can’t work legally or apply for a driver’s license.

Yet there is a light at the end of this dark tunnel. A legislation known as the DREAM Act addresses the struggle and barriers to higher education faced by undocumented students. The DREAM Act, which was recently introduced in Congress, is a bipartisan legislation that would provide a six year temporary status to undocumented students who entered the country before age 16, lived here continuously for at least five years, graduate from high school and have no criminal record. Over the six year period, students would have to attend college or join the military for at least two years to be eligible for permanent status. If enacted, this legislation would unleash the potential of immigrant youth by allowing them to further their education and contribute to our society.

Without the Dream Act, poverty in America will continue to rise as more than 65,000 undocumented students graduate from high school each year. These kids face a bleak future and are often forced to work for low wage jobs at factories and restaurants. Only through higher education, they can break the cycle of poverty that plagues our nation. The taxpayers have already invested thousands of dollars into these students during their K-12 of free public education. It makes no sense to throw all that investment away during this dire economic crisis. Let these children become legal residents, pay taxes and contribute to our American economy.

To find out more about the DREAM Act and what you can do, please visit DreamActivist and the DREAM Act section of Ideas for Change in America.