Recently I was accepted into one of my top colleges that I will attend next fall. This news filled my family with joy and crowded all my close ones with pride. As a first-year student in the United States coming from Mexico, this is even more fulfilling because I had to put much more effort into getting to know a system I wasn't used to. However, the obstacles that I had to achieve this goal were nothing compared to what my best friend who's been in the country for more than five years is currently going through only to get into community college. The only difference between us is that I was born in the United States and she is undocumented.
The United States is one of the top countries people immigrate to, in fact, it is the second on the list just behind Germany. According to statistics given by the American Immigration Council, one in seven US residents is an immigrant, while one in eight residents is a native-born US citizen with at least one immigrant parent. It is impossible not to acknowledge the contribution of immigrants to the development of the country as much as it is a fact that millions of them are undocumented. 10.3 million undocumented immigrants comprised 23 percent of the immigrant population and 3 percent of the total US population in 2019. Despite the thousands of efforts of the presidents to avoid this happening, it continues to happen every day as 1.1 million enter every year, and 15% of that rate corresponds to children. Wishing to pursue the American Dream, they study hard, they try to learn the language, manners, and culture. Anyway, they are at risk of not getting into college or even getting deported to a country that is not their home anymore. That is why the government should reform immigration laws in order to give every student the same opportunity for success, regardless of their immigration status.
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The immigrant issue itself is a very delicate topic in the government, every time there is a big opportunity for immigration reform, an imaginary wall is put between that possibility and the chance of it being done. In 2014, President Obama delayed taking executive action on immigration because the Democratic Party thought it would obstruct the party's opportunity of winning the midterm elections. Then in 2016, President-elect Donald Trump, literally based his whole campaign on xenophobic speeches, which was represented during his years in office as he debilitated almost every aspect of the government dedicated to immigrant affairs. But the topic that has remained unfairly unattended for years is the one regarding undocumented students pursuing higher education. One research by New American Economy in April of 2020 found that there are more than 450,000 undocumented students in higher education, this figure corresponds to 2% of the total student population. This percentage might not seem as big as one would expect, but this is also related to all the boundaries that are put between them and their dreams. Almost 30% of undocumented children live under the poverty line. Further education is a luxury for many of them. Only in nineteen states they will receive in-state tuition, but just in seven they’ll have the opportunity to apply for financial aid, and if they are from Alabama and South Carolina, they won't even have the right to enroll in college because these states had banned enrollment entirely.
This problem has been addressed before, but it has never been addressed correctly. In 2001, the DREAM (Develop, Education, Relief for Alien Minors) Act was proposed in Congress for the first time, more than 20 years had passed, but it has never become law. During Obama’s office years, something similar did become a law, this is the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program, also known as DACA. This policy lets undocumented people who came into the country as children get a driver's license, work permit, social security number, and, of course, pay taxes. It did help a great number of undocumented students because they now could work on better-paid jobs that help them pay for college, but it's not for everyone and remains to be quite unjust. Less than half of the registered undocumented students have DACA because of the eligibility requirements, and even if they have it, this policy does not bring half of the opportunities their peers who were born in the country have. Furthermore, when Trump became president, he debilitated this program strongly. He stopped accepting new applications and extended the renewal period from two years to one year (boundless). The DREAM Act would have given these people the opportunity to own citizenship and legal residence in the United States, but that also meant that they would have unlimited visas for their qualifying family members, which is something the government doesn't want, but what they do want them to contribute to the economy by paying taxes and working. These undocumented individuals were mostly brought by their parents, in the majority of the cases coming to the country was not their decision. Young and disoriented, they had to learn a language that they were not familiar with, get used to an education system they never experienced before, understand a culture that was not theirs, and even endure the xenophobia and racism in a country commanded by conservative nationalists bring upon them, still because they were not born on the soil that's considered from the United States, they are not and will never be, as of today, legal citizens.
This is a problem that needs to be solved now, our representatives need to quit the cover they’ve been putting over immigration affairs, a change has to be done, and has to be done as soon as possible. The DREAM Act needs to be passed so it can benefit all the students that need it. These people were raised among Americans, most of them only know this type of living because they moved at very young ages, therefore, they should be legally Americans. This act itself is very strict, you have to go through three different processes in order to get naturalized, and during the first two you are at risk of being deported. If they are aware of this and still want to be naturalized, they are more than worthy of that benefit. This act will give them plenty of opportunities, they would be able to apply for financial aid just as any other citizen, and they’ll have the same opportunities that DACA brings them, but with the benefit of not being deported and the possibility of visiting their native country when they want to, but still stay in the United States, the country in which they grew and plan to stay the rest of their lives. DACA is not sustainable anymore, as lots of people were not able to apply during the Trump administration and the expiring date is too short. Also, this policy acts as a way of retaining possible workers in the country who will work for minimum wages as they can’t continue their further education because of their socioeconomic barriers. Passing the DREAM Act is the fairest and most effective way to give all undocumented students what they deserve, while also benefiting the country by increasing the economy, creating jobs, and giving people the chance to transform their dreams into reality.
Hopefully, soon the government will get full of people who belong to these backgrounds, as lots of them are currently working hard to make a living and pursue their dreams. When that happens, they will be the ones who will change the system from the inside. The future of the United States is going to be diverse and culturally rich, a country where not a single soul is left aside, and where there is space for everyone. A future in which my best friend’s kids will go to the college of their dreams and visit their mother country and family, one where democracy is applied to those who positively contribute to the economy and well-being of the United States. The one and only future where the dreamers will become the achievers.
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