There is talk that the DREAM Act will come up sometime this year. I remember that Obama said it would happen in the first 100 days of his administration. I guess he is otherwise occupied now.
There is lots of movement behind the scenes. DREAMers all over the country are meeting and planning. Unfortunately, you wouldn't know there is much immigration work being done from reading American newspapers. It seems to have become an invisible cause, except in the New York Times. While the NYT is not my favorite newspaper, I have to say, they have been at it almost daily. Today they published an article on a DREAMer who got his green card, and another on day workers in New Orleans.
I can't say that the NYT is more progressive than the rest. Maybe at the moment they see that the bigger economic picture has to include immigrant workers. The rest of the country seems to be shrinking back (not just the U.S., but in the U.K. as well). We are so worried about ourselves we haven't been able to look past the payment we just missed.
Truly it is a disastrous situation. So many thousands of people losing their jobs and homes has become the national tragedy of the 21st century. But if we really want to make things better we need to give the same attention to the Ponzi schemes; the huge fraud concerning the Iraq rebuilding mission, and the lax way we deal with white-collar criminals. This may sound like retribution to some. It may be. But it would also bring in some reality to our world, where everyday people lose everything for making the mistake of signing on to the wrong mortgage, but a guy that bilks his own sister for millions of dollars gets to stay under house arrest with his own friendly guards.
Beyond this, we need to focus on DREAMers again. We have to try and convince those who don't understand that a DREAMer with a green card brings prosperity and a great work ethic to America's professional labor force. If only DREAMers could be provided the same chance that Madoff was so easily given.
-
Facing Graduation, Not Deportation
New York Times
By NINA BERNSTEIN
Published: February 15, 2009
Three years ago, Amadou Ly was a shy East Harlem high school student with a secret. He quickly became front-page news when his robotics team unexpectedly won a spot in the national finals in Atlanta, but he could not board a plane because he lacked government identification.
Amadou Ly, 21, his legal residency secured, is embarking on a career in show business.
Born in Senegal, Amadou had been abandoned in New York at 14 by his mother, who wanted him to try to finish an American education. At 18, he was facing deportation as an illegal immigrant, with no way to attend the college where he had been admitted.
But by the time he arrived at the robotics competition by train, the response to an article in The New York Times had unleashed a news media whirlwind that brought members of Congress, Hollywood stars and volunteer lawyers to his side. They persuaded immigration authorities to drop deportation proceedings and grant him a foreign student visa to stay and study in the United States.
Now that happy ending has been eclipsed by another: Mr. Ly secured a juvenile green card just before his 21st birthday this month, thanks to his legal helpers and obscure changes in New York State law that extended the age of eligibility.
He is on track to graduate in June from Kingsborough Community College in Brooklyn, after struggling to pay tuition because as a foreign student he could not work more than 20 hours a week...more
No comments:
Post a Comment