DREAM Act Prompts Immigration Supporters

The uproar over the largely misconstrued and misunderstood language of the DREAM Act has prompted law-makers and citizens alike to take heed and let their disagreements be heard over the complete disregard that legislators have chosen by recently voting in favor of the ill-received Act.

RI Immigration Attorney MacDonald posts the following article in its entirety from the Providence Journal website.

Update: Brown president joins rally for immigration act

By KAREN LEE ZINER
Journal staff writer

PROVIDENCE, R.I. -- At a campus rally Tuesday, Brown University President Ruth J. Simmons urged passage of the federal Development, Relief and Education for Alien Minors Act, to allow access to higher education "for thousands of [undocumented] students who have been raised and educated in the United States and who have the talent and drive to be important contributors."

The so-called DREAM Act would provide undocumented students the right to pursue higher education as a path to citizenship and endorses access to educational benefits.

More than 100 students and faculty attended the rally sponsored by the Brown Immigrant Rights Coalition, as part of a National Day of Action for passage of the DREAM Act.

Noting that the legislation "has been thwarted for almost a decade," Simmons said, "We believe the country should encourage those who are aspiring to participate fully in the life of the nation; who are aspiring to a life of usefulness and accomplishment through education and through service.

Its passage "would allow thousands of individuals who have innocently and conscientiously pursued a fruitful and law-abiding life to move on, without the torment of uncertainty that accompanies undocumented status."

Simmons added, "For reasons of national interest, alleviation of painful ambiguity and resolution of a longstanding injustice we urge DREAM Act be passed."

Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid has promised a vote on the bipartisan legislation before the lame-duck Congress ends its session.

Simmons, who had written to Rhode Island's congressional delegation asking their support for the act, thanked U.S. Senators Jack Reed and Sheldon Whitehouse for their leadership. Reed and Whitehouse are among the 40 co-sponsors of the legislation.

Similar events were being held at Harvard, MIT, Yale and Boston College.

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