The Federal DREAM Act

Each year about 65,00 U.S.-raised students who would qualify for the DREAM Act's benefits graduate from high school. These include honor roll students, star athletes, talented artists, homecoming queens, and aspiring teachers, doctors, and U.S. Soldiers. They are young people who have lived in the U.S. for most of their lives and desire only to call this country their home.  Even though they were brought to the U.S. as children, they face unique barriers to higher education. For example, even if they are able to enroll in college, undocumented students pay out-of-state tuition rates in most of their home states. Undocumented students are also unable to receive state financial aid in most states and are ineligible for federal loans or other federal aid. On top of the circumstances that make college much less affordable for undocumented students, their respective status also prevents them from legally working to pay for college. Their lack of proper documentation, such as a driver's license or even a social security number, can hinder them from filling out college and job applications.

DREAM History

Support for the DREAM Act has grown each year since it was first introduced in 2001 during 107th Congress. In past years it has garnered 48 Senate cosponsors and more than 152 Republican and Democratic House cosponsors, more than 1/3 of the House. It was twice passed the Senate Judiciary Committee in bipartisan fashion, by a 16-3 vote in the 2003-04 108th Congress, and again in 2006 by a voice vote without dissent as an amendment to the comprehensive immigration reform bill. In May 2006, the DREAM Act passed the full Senate as part of the Comprehensive Immigration Reform Act of 2006 (S. 2611). On October 24, 2007, in a 52-44 vote in the Senate, the DREAM Act (S. 2205) fell just 8 votes shy of the 60 votes necessary to proceed with debate on the bill. The DREAM Act continues to attract bipartisan support.

The DREAM Act would:

• Repeal a measure that financially penalizes states for providing in-state tuition to their resident undocumented students, allowing more states to make college more affordable.
• Make students eligible for federal loans and work study upon adjustment of their legal status.
• Provide a pathway to citizenship by giving students conditional legal status for 6 years. Legal status becomes permanent once 1 of the following requirements is met:

1. Receive a 2 or 4 year degree from a higher education institution, or must have maintained good academic standing for at least 2 years while wokring towards a bachelors degree or highers.
2. Serve in the U.S. military for 2 year.

Who qualifies?

Students must meet all of the following requirements to qualify:

• Must have entered the U.S. before the age of 16.
• Must have earned a high school diploma, GED, or have been accepted into a 2 or 4 year institution of higher education upon application.
• Must have lived in the U.S. for at least 5 years before the date of the legislation is enacted.
• Must display good moral character, generally meaning that the student has no criminal record.

Resources

• DREAM Act factsheet
• Keeping the DREAM Alive: A Resource Guide for Undocumented Students
• Wasted Talent and Broken Dreams: The Lost Potential of Undocumented Students
  

Take Action!

The DREAM Act will pass only with the collective support of students!