The DREAM Act should be a no-brainer for even those anti-immigration types out there. Why shouldn't we try to keep smart, law-abiding kids here in the U.S. after we've educated them? Talk about model citizens and patriots! Many of these young men and women are even willing to serve in our military for a chance to stay in the country, which is a helluva lot more than most citizens are willing to do.
On humanitarian grounds, I've met too many teens and 20-somethings who've been crushed by our insane immigration policies not to support legislation that would let them remain. And there's no reason to wait for comprehensive immigration reform to get a law like this through Congress. The only folks who stand in our way are the toothless losers who spend their lives hating on Mexicans. Most of them are envious of these kids, that's why they want them to suffer for the supposed sins of their parents.
I'll be on the road most of the day today, so I'll miss seeing James Garcia's play Dream Act for free tonight at the Catalina Elementary School. All I can do is encourage everyone to attend, read my colleague Malia Politzer's recent piece "Return to Sender," which discusses the issue at length, and lobby your senators and representatives to act -- now. Details are below.
And for those haters out there who're down on the brown kids and whine about how all potential DREAM Act beneficiaries should go back to Mexico, I don't suggest you go. Likely your noggins will spontaneously combust after being confronted with the story of future DREAMers smarter than you are. Of course, that wouldn't necessarily be a bad thing . . .
WHEN: February 3, 2010, 7:15 p.m. (one night only)
WHAT: Dream Act tells the story of Victoria Nava, an undocumented immigrant and university student who dreams of practicing medicine. Homeless and afraid of being deported in the face of an immigration crackdown, Victoria's dream of graduating from college is slipping away. (Note that this performance will be followed by a short discussion with the playwright and experts on the Dream Act, a proposed federal law that would provide a path to citizenship for the more than 65,000 undocumented young people who graduate from high school in the United States each year.)
ADMISSION: Free and open to the public.
WHERE: Catalina Elementary, 4510 North 37th Avenue in Phoenix
