Information is Everything: More Info. on the DREAM ACT

I write an introduction to this post because a DREAM ACT student told me they found this posting offensive. These statements are specifically for people who need to be convinced that the DREAM ACT is a good thing. The mere fact of stating the obvious about immigrant families -could be construed as somewhat of an insult. OF course immigrant families have good family values. OF course they are 99% of the time, good honest people. Those of us that believe in the DREAM ACT know these things. But many people out there have ideas about undocumented immigrants being bad, or dishonest, or with low morals. Even though most know that none of this is true, these things still need to be discussed.

Many Americans have the idea that undocumented immigrants are criminals - that they have broken the rule of law- that DREAM ACT kids are not responsible for the parents choices. It hurts to write these words. If you want to look at the letter of the law this is true. But if you look at how the law has been informally interpreted - its a different thing. The kids did not have a choice in crossing into the U.S. But at the same time, remember that the U.S. is changing the rules in mid-stream. The government has looked the other way for 20 years. Now someone has decided this unspoken rule has to change. How can you judge someone who made a decision to immigrate when they are desperate to make a living for their family - and 60% of their home village or town has already left?

When you blame the parents of the DREAM ACT students for breaking immigration rules -- think of what a mother would do for her kid... Its empathy that brings understanding.

I apologize if anyone is offended by this post. However, I think this is what is needed now to help get the DREAM ACT passed.

More later on this topic:

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Information is Everything: More Info. on the
DREAM ACT
Being that these few days are very crucial to passing the DREAM ACT


Bill, it would be a good thing to list what the DREAM ACT could do
for the U.S.

1. There is constant talk about how the U.S. is short of techinal
professionals. There are thousands of DREAM ACT students that are
majoring (or have graduated) in engineering and technical fields. Why
import engineers from other countries when the U.S. has them right
here?

2. In Houston for example, the public school district spends hundreds
of thousands of dollars to recruit bi-lingual spanish speaking teachers.
They go to Mexico, Latin American countries and even Spain. Besides
giving a few H.I.S.D. staff a chance to travel internationally, this
amounts to a significant loss of funds. There are thousands of qualified
amounts to a significant loss of funds. There are thousands of qualified
DREAM ACT college graduates who would love to become teachers.
3. The complaints about immigrants not assimilating can be addressed
with thousands of DREAM ACT college graduates. What a better way
to adjust to U.S. Culture? An American college education is a great
indoctrinator of American values.


4. Even though politicians in Virginia are saying that immigrants (i.e.
undocumented immigrants from Spanish Speaking countries) could
not or would not adapt to Virginia values, nothing could be further
from the truth. If the lawmakers are talking about family values,
education, hard work, and patriotism - they can't beat immigrants
from Mexico and other Latin American countries.

-Patriotism: A huge number of immigrant families are seeing their
children enlist for the military - that has been a century old pattern.

-Work Ethic: Since the early 1900's it was common knowledge that
Mexican immigrant laborers were just about the hardest working of all
imported labor.

-Motivated Students: Ask any college professor who has immigrant
students and he/she will tell you that the immigrant students are
much more interested, reliable, respectful, and appreciative of their
education.

-Commitment to Family: It has been a proven fact for a number of
years that Latino babies have a lower mortality rate than Anglo/white
babies. Could this be about closer supervision? More attention and
affection? Fewer kids in day care centers? The divorce rate of
immigrants is lower. Fewer senior citizens move into nursing homes.

5. Concerns about people not learning English. Its is impossible to
obtain a college education in the U.S. without having an excellent
command of English.

6. Passing the DREAM ACT will not start an avalanche of what people are calling amnesty
DREAM ACT students are only 3% of the undocumented
immigrant population. It is a miniscule number. If you think that
family members will request visas through the students, don't worry.
ICE is so slow, family members might not get their documents for
another 12 years.


7. If you think that countries such as Mexico should get their economic
act together so immigration to the U.S. will stop or at least slow down.
Many immigrants are collaborating on community projects back home.
Just read "The Mayas of Morgantown" to see what a group of
Guatemalan immigrants in North Carolina did for their villages back
home.


8. Law abiding future citizens. Contrary to what Dobbs and Sessions
might say, numerous scholarly and government reports indicate
immigrants have a significantly lower crime rate. If you doubt this,
look up "Debunking the Myth of Immigrant Criminality," by Rubén G.
Rumbaut, et. al. University of California, Irvine.

http://www.migrationinformation.org/Feature/display.cfm?id=403 If
you still doubt, there are many other sources available that prove this.

one more thing. If you really want to do something, write to your
senator and send them the link to this page. Many Senators receive
little or no information on bills they have to vote on. In this case they
are recieving minimal info. and lots of complaints (and misinformation)
from the Lou Dobbs types. If you recall I posted a few
days ago that a journalist who interviewed a number of congressman
was surprised with the lawmakers told him they got most of their info.
about the Ramos - Compean case from Lou Dobbs. see "The Power of
Mis-Information in the Media" that quotes Salon.com Alex
Koppleman.


Koppleman's quote:

""Some members of Congress freely acknowledge that their
information on the [Ramos and Compean] case comes from Dobbs"
If you don't want to give them this web page address, feel free to copy
anything written on these pages. This web site is not about making
money, or getting popular. It is about getting the DREAM ACT passed.