We Need Engineers and Scientists? Many of Them are Already in the U.S. - With the DREAM Act they can work in our corporations...

This is a Febraury 24, 2007 post in Born in the USA - 2008 (was also posted on a blog of the Washington Post)


We don’t have to look beyond our borders for well-trained engineers and scientists. There are thousands of college students in U.S. universities who would qualify for these positions. Yet they cannot apply for these jobs because they are undocumented - and do not have legal residency in the United States, even though they have lived here most of their lives.

I personally know a number of these young people. Some of them have been my students, others I know because of current research I’m doing on immigration. For those graduating this semester - they are facing an impossible situation. The only way they can stay legally in the United States is to join the U.S. Armed Forces and serve in a combat zone. As they see article after article in the newspapers about immigration raids, the construction of a wall on the U.S.-México border, and of immigrants being killed as they cross the border, they begin to feel desperation. They realize that Congress is not moving towards comprehensive immigration reform that would (hopefully) pass the DREAM Act - a bill that would give these bright college graduates the right to live and work in the United States.

Perhaps Mr. Gates could use his political (and financial) influence make the DREAM Act a reality, which would let these young people work as the American professionals they are trained to be.