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L.A. Times Pushes for DREAM Act

According to estimates, there are 65,000 who graduate from high school in the United States each year into an unfortunate quandary: because of their immigration status, they can't seek legal employment and cannot seek higher education. Considered the strongest part of a package of immigration bills in front of Congress right now is the Development, Relief and Education for Alien Minors Act (DREAM Act), which would allow undocumented high school graduates a path to permanent citizenship provided they follow a couple of rules.

It's the least divisive of a set of extremely polarizing legislation. And while certain members of Congress believe it should be lumped in with the rest of the omnibus, the editors of the Los Angeles Times disagree:


Most of those who would be affected by the legislation were brought to the United States by their parents. Many remember no other home and, like their peers, are eager to pursue the American Dream. Such is the case of Eric Balderas, the 19-year-old Harvard University student whose status became the subject of national attention when federal authorities learned he is undocumented. Balderas was brought to the country at age 4 and grew up thinking he was a U.S. citizen. Not until his mother refused to let him get a driver's license did he learn the truth. Still, he became valedictorian at his Texas high school and is now studying molecular and cellular biology. His deportation has been indefinitely deferred, but in our view, he shouldn't be deported at all.

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Interestingly, when the paper printed selected reactions to its editorial, the response skewed primarily against the Times' sentiments.

Below is a video, promoting the effort to get the DREAM Act passed (which was actually posted to The Community Board a year ago). Backers of the bill, according to the Times, "have been fasting and marching and demonstrating for months. Some have publicly outed themselves as undocumented."

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=B3zdJ7Msigw

Photo via.

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