Can you think of a time where you worked hard for something and then suddenly it was ripped away from you. This is what DACA recipients worry about and constantly have on the back of their minds. Just a background, DACA stands for Deferred Action on Childhood Arrivals and it is for individuals who came to America at a young age to pursue a better life. For DACA recipients to feel secure is for the DREAM Act to ultimately be passed. Even though the DREAM Act has not been passed yet, it has been floating around for quite a while. DACA recipients have become DREAMers and they hope that one day the DREAM Act will finally be passed. Therefore my research question for this paper is: How will Congress be the main factor for the DREAM Act to finally be passed? Something we all should know is that Congress does hold the power to make laws. The DREAM Act will allow DACA recipients to continue their education, have a solid career and finally become a U.S. citizen.
This topic is important because The DREAM Act is something that people have been fighting for and it lies within the hands of congress. Ever since it was introduced DREAMers have been protesting for their rights. When you are younger you have constantly been told if you go to college and get a degree then you will get your dream job. Why does it have to be different for DACA recipients? What does Congress not see? They follow the rules and take the classes they need yet they are not offered the job they worked hard for. You're always told if you do A and B you will eventually get to C. However, instead, you suddenly grow up and have someone tell you you can't simply because of your status. DACA was passed in 2012 and has done an excellent job. However, it is time for Congress to do more and the answer is the DREAM Act.
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My argument is that the DREAM Act will allow DACA recipients to finally meet their goals with whatever they desire without any issues. In order for this to happen, I think that Congressmen need to put issues aside and realize the damage they are doing. The article called Places to Dream was written by Paulina Espejo and she states, “The Act matters because it may set the political tone as immigration reform moves forward in the next few years, but more importantly because it can start a wider conversation about the source and meaning of political rights ”(Espejo, 2013). DACA does not let you become a citizen however the DREAM Act does. This article backs up my hypothesis by claiming that these children are brought to America at a very young age by their families to get a better life. This will start getting the conversation going and hopefully changes to policies in the future
My path for this paper is to show the positive outcome that the DREAM Act will provide and how it is up for Congress to build this outcome. From the article Advancing Executive Branch Immigration Policy Through the Attorney General's Review Authority written by Alberto Gonzales and Patrick Glen it states, “Finally, Part IV addresses how the referral authority could serve the broader purpose of advancing immigration policy, especially in administrations that confront a Congress that is reluctant or unwilling to act” (Gonzales, Glen, 2016).
At the end of this paper, people shall see the significance of the DREAM Act and how beneficial it will be to Dreamers. There are countless articles and protests to keep the dream alive. It is now time to let DACA recipients have a place to call home forever and it is now time for lawmakers to help.
Nowadays you may hear friends, family and DACA recipients also known as DREAMers fighting for the DREAM Act. They are striving for the right to stay in a place where they have called home all their life. I will be taking a closer look at this topic from past arguments who have dug a little deeper into this topic with their research. So again my research question for this paper will be: How will Congress be the main factor for the DREAM Act to finally be passed? My argument is that Congress is a contributing factor and possibly the most important in getting this to be a law.
The discussion over the DREAM Act is not something new and it is a recurring topic that has been argued for quite a while. In the article called Keeping the Dream Alive written by Christopher Connell states, “But Albert was in a predicament faced by thousands of undocumented immigrants' children, pawns in a bigger battle being fought over immigration laws and policy in the halls of Congress and state capitals” (Connell, 2012). To explain the background with this piece of evidence there was a young man named Albert who was stopped by border patrol. Albert began explaining his background on how he was brought to America at a young age with his father who is on a Visa. The patrol officers then took Albert to Immigration and Customs Enforcement to be questioned. When Albert was finally released on bond he faced what many people are still facing which is the fear of being deported. This evidence is significant because it shows how Congress will be the solution to stopping young people like Albert who are here to make a better life for themselves. I chose this specific evidence because I wanted to showcase how they take an innocent individual and make them feel like they are doing something wrong. They put them in questioning and interrogate them to where it is emotionally draining. This evidence is just a small piece of many other similar stories. It shows how we know the situation and problems that are going on currently. They make them feel as if they have done something wrong and they have not. When you hear someone judging another person for not being an American citizen it is hard to look the other way. They do not want to argue back but they try to explain their side of the story and express how America is their home. We have seen on the news, articles and many more outlets of constant battles with people disagreeing with each other every single day. This article is just one of many.
This article proves how Congress has a bill right in front of them ready to be passed and how it will solve many issues. However, the article expresses it has not been passed yet and it has been like that for years. From the reading, you will gain information that DACA does help and it was brought to us by Barack Obama. DACA was passed so it would be a safety net so DACA recipients will not face the fear of being deported. However, it does not work towards getting legal residency and basically means that it will not help to work towards citizenship. Anything can happen in a matter of seconds and with having DACA it is not a reliable option. This article expresses that DACA is helping hundreds of thousands of people but has constant risks of it getting taken away. All the people involved will be left with nothing and that is the constant argument. This is their argument with people who have the power to change policies. If you hear their stories they are grateful that there was something done however it is not what they truly have been hoping for. To back up these statements Connell also States in this article, “The bill did pass the lame-duck House in the final days under Democratic control on a 216-198 vote in December 2010, but came up five votes short of the 60 necessary in the Senate to avert a filibuster” (2012). The DREAM Act went through the process like any other bill to become a law. However right when it gets up to voting it always falls short and never gets the chance to be passed. They simply can never agree and are against working towards creating a path for citizenship for DREAMers. This article shows readers how Congress has had this act and it has been through many revisions and they still will not pass it. There are many questions about why they cannot come to an agreement and pass it. There is only so much that DACA recipients can do and they are patiently waiting for the day to come where they finally have security.
Furthermore according to Walter J. Nicholls in the article From political opportunities to niche-openings: the dilemmas of mobilizing for immigrant rights in inhospitable environments it states, “In certain cases, protesting immigrants have even succeeded in generating resonance for their cause and pressing governments to consider granting an exemption from restrictive immigration laws” (Nicholls, 2014). This study gives multiple pieces of evidence of people sharing stories from how they believe there should be a difference in immigration policies. The article goes into detail by saying how dreamers express their opinions and use their voices to say what they deserve. This piece of evidence now turns into saying how it is now up to legislators and policies to do the right thing. People are trying to get the lawmakers to know that the risk of deportation is high and it always has been. Also, it shows us how immigration offices tend to be unfair and extremely difficult.
There are many questions circling what has truly been going on in immigration and what policies there are. This article will give the key answers many people have left unanswered to the public. DREAMers in the reading try to show the audience their true struggles and how they are facing difficulty with current immigration policies. This expresses that there, in fact, is a relationship between Congress and the DREAM Act. Simply because without them going forward and compromising some sort of agreement nothing will move forward. From the readings, you can conclude that there has been a change with adding DACA to help dreamers but it is not a guarantee for the future. What they do not understand is why are they so against giving immigrants a path towards citizenship. There is no logical explanation as to why they are fighting against it so much. Also, there is no explanation of why they constantly keep bringing up the fact that DACA might get taken away. There is no reason why they should take it away and how that will even be humane. There are certain requirements you must meet and when they do it is still a struggle. They are simply here to continue their education and find work to support their families. When you are hearing all their stories they are longing for the same thing and they just want Congress to hear their stories and understand where they are coming from. There is only so much they could do with telling them their stories and asking them for freedom. It is now up to Congress to fulfill their dreams and finally figure out a way to make it happen.
To add to this piece of evidence individuals within this article try to explain how the DREAM Act is a promising path and they do not understand when it comes to voting it dies out. As we all know Trump has continuously been trying to threaten DACA recipients his whole presidency. With him threatening to take DACA away it leaves many people in constant worry of what to do next. What they are striving to explain in their stories is everything that they have worked for would be taken away in a second. There has to be something done and the people who have the power seem to not be doing something to improve that. If DACA gets taken away so much harm would be done and many lives would be at danger.
When you look at these pieces of evidence you can see that DACA recipients have always tried using their voice to get Congress to listen to them. They are trying to get their stories to be understood and they are trying to explain they need more than what they are receiving. They are attempting to reach out to the people in power and explain that they will continue to fight for what they believe in. They are here to build a future for themselves and they have had the DREAM Act dangling right in front of their faces for years. The DREAM Act was first introduced in 2001 and countless dreamers are still hopeful. However, it seemed and still seems like a constant battle for it to get passed. Legislators see the protests and they see the amount of time that DREAMers put into making sure that they understand where they are coming from. What they try to explain in these articles is that they are not asking for much. They are asking for a right they clearly deserve and it is now up to them to do something about it. With all the protesting and with all the people fighting they believe and think that it is now time for equity to finally happen. They explain what more does Congress need to happen and how many stories do they need to hear for them to finally understand. What else are they supposed to do and when reading you understand that they are doing everything in their power to get this act to finally become a bill. It goes through the same process every other Bill does and yet it seems to have difficulty every single time.
More facts to provide is that DACA recipients have to get an education, they have to be employed and they do pay taxes. There are people around them that believe they are here for a free place to stay and taking jobs away. When that is not the case at all and they are just like everyone else. The reason why there is a fight is that this is something that should have been passed a long time ago. This is what we already know on the topic and it is hard to stand for a country that does not stand for us.