Senate to consider DREAM Act again

WASHINGTON — Young people who are undocumented immigrants would be able to eventually earn green cards if they enlist in the military or attend college for two years, under a bill that the Senate is scheduled to consider today.

The Senate plans to vote whether to take up the Development, Relief and Education for Alien Minors Act, known as the DREAM Act.

Proponents call it a way for a generation of youth to earn the ability to pursue their dreams and contribute to society. Opponents criticize it as an amnesty for potentially millions of undocumented immigrants.

The measure would allow undocumented students "of good moral character" who graduate from high school or get their GED to receive the residency status needed to attend college or enlist in the military.

After two years of college or military service, they would earn legal permanent residency, commonly known as a green card, which would put them on a path toward citizenship.

To be eligible, the undocumented students must have been in the United States for more than five years, have been under 16 years old when they first arrived and be under 30 years old when the bill becomes law.

In Utah, David Doty, assistant commissioner of higher education, said the the DREAM Act could be a powerful tool to improve chronically low academic achievement among undocumented immigrants. The Migration Policy Institute estimates that only half of the nation's undocumented students graduate from high school.

"It would be a pretty strong incentive for immigrant students to pursue an education," Doty said. "It's important to them as individuals. It's important to their families, and it's important to the economic growth of our state."

Sen. Orrin Hatch, R-Utah, initiated the idea for the bill five years ago, and Sen. Dick Durbin, D-Ill., has renewed efforts to get it through Congress.

"We can allow a generation of immigrant students with great potential and ambitions to contribute more fully to our society and national security, or we can relegate them to a future in the shadows, which would be a loss for all Americans," Durbin said. "This is the choice the DREAM Act presents to us."

Hatch said the DREAM Act is "narrowly tailored" to reach a certain portion of students who came to the United States illegally through the decision of their parents.