Legislative Agenda

The DREAM Act: A Force Multiplier for the U.S. Armed Forces

The DREAM Act is a narrowly-tailored, bipartisan bill that would allow a select group of immigrant students with great potential to contribute more fully to America. The DREAM Act would give these students a chance to earn legal status if they came here as children (15 or under), are long-term U.S. residents (continuous physical presence for five years), have good moral character, and complete two years of college or military service in good standing. These young people were brought to the U.S. and should not be punished for their parents' choices.

The DREAM Act would benefit the U.S. Armed Forces. The Defense Authorization bill is the appropriate vehicle for the DREAM Act because tens of thousands of highly-qualified, well-educated young people would enlist in the Armed Forces if the DREAM Act becomes law.

The Army says high school graduation "is the best single predictor of stick-to-it-iveness" that is required to succeed in the military. In recent years, the Army has been forced to accept more applicants who are high school dropouts, have low scores on the military's aptitude test, and have criminal backgrounds. In contrast, DREAM Act recruits would be well-qualified high-school graduates with good moral character.

Many DREAM Act beneficiaries come from a community that is predisposed towards military service. The Rand Corporation found that "Hispanic youth are more likely than other groups to express a positive attitude toward the military" and "Hispanics consistently have higher retention and faster promotion speeds than their white counterparts."

The Defense Department has expressed support for the DREAM Act since the Bush Administration. The Defense Department's FY 2010-12 Strategic Plan includes the DREAM Act as a means of meeting the strategic goal of "shap[ing] and maintain[ing] a mission-ready All Volunteer Force." In 2007, Bill Carr, Deputy Undersecretary of Defense, said that the DREAM Act is "very appealing" because it would apply to the "cream of the crop" of students and be "good for readiness." In 2006, then Undersecretary of Defense David Chu testified to the Senate Armed Services Committee:

There are an estimated 50,000 to 65,000 undocumented alien young adults who entered the U.S. at an early age and graduate from high school each year. ... many of these young people may wish to join the military, and have the attributes needed -- education, aptitude, fitness, and moral qualifications. ... the DREAM Act would provide these young people the opportunity of serving the United States in uniform.

Military experts also support the DREAM Act. LTC Margaret Stock, a professor at the U.S. Military Academy at West Point, said: "Passage of the DREAM Act would be highly beneficial to the United States military. The DREAM Act promises to enlarge dramatically the pool of highly qualified recruits for the U.S. Armed Forces."

The DREAM Act includes important restrictions to prevent abuse. DREAM Act students would not be eligible for Pell grants, would be subject to tough criminal penalties for fraud, and would have limited ability to sponsor their family members for legal status.

The DREAM Act has broad bipartisan support. The DREAM Act has 40 cosponsors and is the only immigration reform legislation the Obama Administration has endorsed. In the 110th Congress, the DREAM Act received 52 votes, including 11 Republicans. According to a recent poll by Opinion Research Corporation, 70% of likely voters favor the DREAM Act, including 60% of Republicans.

The DREAM Act is supported by labor, business, education, civil rights and religious groups, including the AFL-CIO, the Anti-Defamation League, the National PTA, the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops, the CEOs of Fortune 100 companies like Microsoft and Pfizer, and dozens of colleges and universities.

Mayra Garcia was brought to the U.S. from Mexico by her parents in 1994, when she was 2. Mayra, is now 18. She is a member of the National Honor Society and she graduated from high school in the Spring of 2010 with a 3.98 GPA. She is the President of the Cottonwood Youth Advisory Commission in her hometown of Cottonwood Arizona. Mayra was awarded a scholarship to attend a prestigious university in California. In an essay about the DREAM Act, Mayra wrote:

"From the time I was intellectually capable of understanding its significance, my dream was to be the first college graduate in my immediate and extended family. ... College means more to me than just a four-year degree. It means the breaking of a family cycle. It means progression and fulfillment of an obligation."

"According to my mother, I cried every day in preschool because of the language barrier. By kindergarten, though, I was fluent in English. ... English became my way of understanding the world and myself. I used it to prove myself to a society that expected nothing more from me than a pregnant belly or a criminal record."

Yves Gomes was brought to the U.S. from India by his parents in 1994, when he was 14 months old. Yves is now 17. He is a member of the National Honor Society and he graduated from high school in the Spring of 2010 with a 3.8 GPA.

Read Yves' essay about his experiences >>

Read The Washington Post's story about Yves >>

Juan Gomez was brought to the U.S. from Colombia at the age of 2. He is currently majoring in finance at Georgetown University, which he is attending on scholarship.

Read more about Juan in a Washington Post Magazine cover story >>

Read the letter supporting Juan and the DREAM Act from Georgetown President John DeGioia >>

Marie Gonzalez was brought to the U.S. from Costa Rica by her parents when she was 5. In 2008, she graduated from Westminster College in Missouri with a double major in political science and international business. Marie, one of the first Dreamers to speak out about her situation, testified in the House Judiciary Committee on May 18, 2007:

"No matter what, I will always consider the United States of America my home. I love this country. Only in America would a person like me have the opportunity to tell my story to people like you. Many may argue that because I have a Costa Rican birth certificate I am Costa Rican and should be sent back to that country. If I am sent back there, sure I'd be with my Mom and Dad, but I'd be torn away from loved ones that are my family here, and from everything I have known since I was a child."

Read more about Marie in this Washington Post op-ed >>

Herta Llusho was brought to the U.S. from Albania when she was 11. She graduated from high school with a 4.05 GPA and is currently in the electrical engineering program at University of Detroit Mercy. Last year, Herta told her story at a DREAM Act briefing sponsored by Senator Durbin.

Watch Herta's speech >>

Pedro Pedroza was brought to Chicago from Mexico by his parents in 1989, when he was 5.

Pedro was an honors student at St. Ignatius College Prep in Chicago, Illinois, and is now a student at Cornell University.

Dan-el Padilla Peralta was brought to the U.S. from the Dominican Republic at the age of 4. He rose from homelessness to become the salutatorian of his class at Princeton University, where his professors hailed him as the likely "classicist of his generation."

Dan-el is currently in graduate student at Stanford University.

Read more about Dan-el in The Wall Street Journal >>

Minchul Suk was brought to the U.S. from South Korea by his parents in 1991, when he was 9. Minchul graduated from high school with a 4.2 GPA. He graduated from UCLA with a degree in Microbiology, Immunology, and Molecular Genetics. With the support of the Korean-American community, Minchul was able to graduate from dental school. He has passed the national boards and licensure exam but cannot obtain a license and fulfill his dream of becoming a dentist because he is undocumented. In a letter to Senator Durbin, Minchul wrote:

"After spending the majority of my life here, with all my friends and family here, and with my college acceptance at UCLA, I could not simply pack my things and go to a country I barely remember. I am willing to accept whatever punishment is deemed fitting for that crime; let me just stay and pay for it. People say that everyone deserves a second chance. I am just asking for that one. I am begging for a chance to prove to everyone that I am not a waste of a human being, that I am not a criminal set on leeching off taxpayers' money. Please give me the chance to serve my community as a dentist, to be a giver rather than a receiver, to be able to become someone who would be able to shine light and help those around me like people have done for me when I was down in my darkest hours."

Felipe Matos, Gaby Pacheco, Juan Rodriguez, and Carlos Roa, four DREAM Act students also known as the Trail of Dreams, walked 1500 miles from Miami to Washington DC to raise awareness about the DREAM Act.

Read more about Felipe, Gaby, Juan, and Carlos >>

Tam Tran was born in Germany and was brought to the United States by her parents when she was six years old. Tam's parents are refugees who fled Vietnam to Germany as boat people at the end of the Vietnamese war. They could not return to Vietnam because they were persecuted by the Communist government in Vietnam and the German government refuses to accept them. Tam graduated from UCLA with honors with a degree in American Literature and Culture. She was studying for a Ph.D. at Brown University when she was tragically killed in a car accident. On May 18, 2007, Tam testified in the House Judiciary Committee:

I was born in Germany, my parents are Vietnamese, but I have been American raised and educated for the past 18 years. ... Without the DREAM Act, I have no prospect of overcoming my state of immigration limbo; I'll forever be a perpetual foreigner in a country where I've always considered myself an American.

Read more about Tam in a Los Angeles Times maganize cover story (Tam is identified as Thi) >>

Read Tam's obituary in the Boston Globe >>

Cesar Vargas was brought to the U.S. from Mexico by his parents when he was 5. He is currently a student at the City University of New York School of Law, where he founded the Prosecutor Law Students Association. Cesar recently interned at the Brooklyn District Attorney's Office. Cesar's dream is to serve as a military lawyer in the Judge Advocate General's Corp, and, following his military service, to become a prosecutor.

Read more about Cesar here >>

Oscar Vazquez was brought to Phoenix, AZ, by his parents when he was 12. In high school, Oscar and three other DREAM Act students won first place in the college division of a NASA robot competition, competing against students from MIT and other top universities. Last year, Oscar graduated from Arizona State University with a degree in Mechanical Engineering. Following his graduation, Oscar voluntarily returned to Mexico and applied to re-enter the U.S. legally. On August 30, 2010--after 361 days away from his U.S. citizen wife and daughter--Oscar was granted a waiver allowing him to return to the United States.

Read more about Oscar in The Arizona Republic >>

Read more about Oscar in Wired >>

Benita Veliz was brought to the U.S. from Mexico by her parents in 1993, when she was 8. Benita graduated as the valedictorian of her high school class at the age of 16. She received a full scholarship to St. Mary's University, where she graduated from the Honors program with a double major in biology and sociology. Benita's honors thesis was on the DREAM Act. She dreams of becoming an attorney. In a letter to Senator Durbin, Benita wrote:

"I can't wait to be able to give back to the community that has given me so much. I was recently asked to sign the national anthems for both the U.S. and Mexico at a Cinco de Mayo community assembly. Without missing a beat, I quickly belted out the Star Spangled Banner. To my embarrassment, I then realized that I had no idea how to sing the Mexican national anthem. I am American. My dream is American. It's time to make our dreams a reality. It's time to pass the DREAM Act."

Read The New York Times op-ed about Benita >>

Read the San Antonio Express-News story about Benita >>

Read the DREAM Act (S. 729) >>

Congressional Research Service report on the DREAM Act >>

Senators Durbin and Lugar request moratorium on DREAM Act deportations >>

Introduction of the DREAM Act in the 111th Congress >>

Floor statement by Senator Durbin on the DREAM Act >>

Press conference on the DREAM Act >>

Introduction of the DREAM Act introduction in 110th Congress >>

Senate passage of the DREAM Act in the 109th Congress >>

Letter of support from national civil rights, immigrant, labor, and religious groups >>

Letter of support from education groups >>

Letter of support from New York Mayor Bloomberg and CEOs >>

Article on Defense Department support >>

"The DREAM Act: Tapping an Overlooked Pool of Homegrown Talent to Meet Military Enlistment Needs," article by West Point Professor Lieutenant Colonel Margaret Stock >>

College Board report "Young Lives on Hold: The College Dreams of Undocumented Students" >>

More background from the National Immigration Law Center >>