First of all, I support the Dream Act because it is an issue of justice. As all of us already know “Justice is the first virtue of social institutions”. We as a nation are punishing a group of approximately 65, 000 youth because they have inherited from their parents the tittle of illegal immigrants.

These youth have lived in the United States for most of their lives and want nothing more than to be recognized for what they are, Americans. They have their dreams and wanted to live the American story too.

Secondly, I support the Dream Act because, unless we put all these young adults in buses or in planes and send them to their parents’ country of origin… they will continue living in the United States. They will BE part of the future of this nation. So, our future will have approximately 65, 000 less professionals to serve the nation.

Thirdly, I support the Dream Act, because we are punishing the children for the fault committed by their parents. They were brought to the United States by their parents, they didn’t freely decided to cross the border or to stay behind when their tourist visa ended. So far, the only way that illegal immigrant minors can obtain permanent residency status is through their parents, the DREAM ACT will entitled them to make their own future through the military career or through becoming professionals by attending colleges and universities.

In addition, other argument that we can add to this issue of fairness with the approximately 65, 000 youth is what the Eighth Amendment of our constitution stated regarding the prohibition against cruel and unusual punishment.

I do considered that we, as a nation, are giving a cruel and unusual punishment to this approximately 65, 000 youth.

Finally, the DREAM ACT which is a bipartisan legislation ‒ pioneered by Sen. Orin Hatch [R-UT] and Sen. Richard Durbin [D-IL] ‒ can solve this injustice in our society. However, we have been dealing with this proposal since August 1, 2001. For 10 years the senate has been presenting and rejecting the discussion of what I considered is a fundamental right of approximately 65, 000 youth that entered in this country as minors -with their parents- and from many different countries. It is important that I also clarify, once again, that the DREAM ACT is a limited, targeted legislation that will allow only the best and brightest young people to earn their legal status after a rigorous and lengthy process.

As a last note, let’s recognize the organizations and people that have studied and support the DREAM ACT who have concluded that THE DREAM ACT IS GOOD FOR OUR ECONOMY, GOOD FOR OUR SECURITY,  GOOD FOR OUR NATION. These are some of the benefits they listed:

1.- The DREAM Act will represents an opportunity to expand [the recruiting] pool for our military organization.

2.- The DREAM Act will make our country more competitive in the global economy. By allowing “these young people to live up to their fullest potential and contribute to the economic growth of our country.”  In particular, the DREAM Act will play an important part in the nation’s efforts to have the highest proportion of college graduates in the world by 2020, something vital for America to remain competitive in the world.

The DREAM ACT is common-sense legislation that would give students who grew up in the United States a chance to contribute to our country’s well-being by serving in the U.S. armed forces or pursuing a higher education.