“It’s who we are as Americans, at our best.”
Secretary of Education Arne Duncan reiterated the Obama White House’s support for the DREAM Act in an editorial in The Hill today. He urged lawmakers to consider the economic benefits of recognizing millions of new citizens who may have come to this country without documentation, but who since then have become college-educated or veterans of military service. So long as they satisfy specific conditions showing residency, no criminal record, and a desire to start or finish a college education, they should be able to gain citizenship. Apart from growing an educated workforce, the DREAM Act also helps currently undocumented young people elect to serve in the military and gain a path to citizenship that way when they would otherwise be denied the opportunity.
Voting on the DREAM Act starts tomorrow, Thursday, December 2, 2010, in the Senate.
