Is the Dream Act Constitutional free essay sample

The Dream Act is meant to keep upstanding citizens who are in the country illegally to gain access to citizenship with a form of penance. They can elect to go to higher education schools or join our militaries for at least two years. Will we one day be rudely awakened by this dream that has turned into a nightmare? There are two sides to every position and both have valid points that should be understood, studied and processed. Many illegal’s come to our wonderful country to find opportunity, a better life and themselves; in this wonderful country we call The United States of America. This is what America was founded on but yet with a growing immigration problem and lack of opportunities for actual citizens of our fair country has come to light and placed a hold on this bill. Can we handle a rush for citizenship, which would incur expenses and lack of security at our borders; will the loopholes destroy the actual intention of the bill? To every bill and every law there are those opposed and there are those who are for, which side of the coin will you be on? The Dream act is nothing more than an amnesty bill designed to get Latino votes. We will write a custom essay sample on Is the Dream Act Constitutional or any similar topic specifically for you Do Not WasteYour Time HIRE WRITER Only 13.90 / page President Obama pushes Dream Act, immigration reform to keep worlds best and brightest in America (NY Daily News, May 2011). The level of requirements to qualify as intelligent/talented are substandard; the highest level of education needed for the Dream Act is a GED (The Dream Act Bill, S. 952, May 2011). The bar needs to be set higher if we truly want the ‘best and brightest’ in America, not lower it. There needs to be a test requirement with a grade limit that must be met for anyone to qualify for the Dream Act. Special provisions of the Immigration and Nationality Act (INA) authorize U. S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) to expedite the application and naturalization process for current members of the U. S. armed forces and recently discharged members. Generally, qualifying military service includes service with one of the following branches: Army, Navy, Air Force, Marine Corps, Coast Guard, certain components of the National Guard and the Selected Reserve of the Ready Reserve. In addition, spouses of members of the U. S. armed forces who are or will be deployed may be eligible for expedited naturalization. Other provisions of the law also allow certain spouses to complete the naturalization process abroad (Immigration and Nationality Act). Military service provides a chance for someone to earn their citizenship and not be just handed to them. Chapter 30 Montgomery GI Bill is available to an active duty service member that pays $1200. 00 into the program. As of October 1, 2011 at full time rate, 9 credit hours or more, a veteran will receive $1,473. 00 a month while they are attending school (VA. gibill. gov). If they participate in the buy up program, for an additional $600. 00 they will receive an additional $150. 0 a month while they are in school. There already are programs out there that works for those that want to earn their citizenship and pay for college. The American dream needs to be earned not given away or sold for votes. There is also the matter of employment and public benefits. The United States is already near ten percent unemployment while having an overstock of human resources. Many educated citizens who are more than qualified in their perspective fields cannot find work. Why would we want to bring in more people if there are not enough jobs for the citizens we already have. There would be no increase in productivity since there are no positions for these new citizens. All we would have created is a higher demand on the government payouts for the unemployed. There will also be a huge potential to increase costs for the government not only with unemployment, but medical and food stamps. The ratio of intelligent applicants to qualifying family members for sponsorship is also severely unbalanced. The fact that not only are we bringing in people and paying for their education when there are no jobs available, and allowing them to bring in their family members means a never ending chain of overpopulation will begin. How are the already struggling taxpayers going to fund not only the education costs of these dreamers, but also the increased demand on the government services budget which is also already strained. We must also take into consideration the highly qualified Americans who will have to come out of high school only to find that tuition costs have skyrocketed, but that they now have to compete with immigrants who do not have to pay anything for school. The American citizens will have to work full time jobs just to be able to afford school and have half the time for studying where as the dreamers who will only need to show up to class. Until there is a surplus of available to educated people in this country, there should not be any more people allowed in. One simple solution to this problem might be to bring in innovators, people who create more jobs. Until the United States can bring its economic crisis into balance, giving away money to educate people for jobs that do not exist is the worst possible solution. There are many pros and cons to be argued regarding the Dream Act as it is extremely controversial; however, looking from the point of view of the young man or woman who grew up in this country as an â€Å"illegal†, the pros tend to outweigh the cons. The Dream Act, which stands for, the development, relief and education for alien minors, would permit certain immigrant students who have grown up in the U. S. to apply for temporary legal status and to eventually obtain permanent legal status and become eligible for U. S. citizenship if they go to college or serve in the U. S. military(Dream Act 2011). Proponents of the legislation suggest that children should not be punished for the choices made by their parents. In a recent state of the union address President Obama weighs in with his opinion of the benefits of the Dream Act, â€Å"I am prepared to work with Republicans and Democrats to protect our borders, enforce our laws and address the millions of undocumented workers who are now living in the shadows. I know that debate will be difficult. I know it will take time. But tonight, let’s agree to make that effort. And let’s stop expelling talented, responsible young people who could be staffing our research labs or starting a new business, who could be further enriching this nation†(B. Obama 2011). Some of the main hot button issues related to this topic are: education, jobs, economy and public benefits. In an already depressed economy one might argue that there is no reason to further burden this country with illegals, that they are a strain on the economy, there are already too few jobs for American citizens, and that schools are already over-crowded. On the other hand, with the strict guidelines of the Dream Act, the young men and women who are eligible for this benefit must prove that they are willing to work hard and be an upstanding citizen. This Act even goes as far as demanding that the applicant be of good moral character. The competition in the job market will give perspective employers a larger field of qualified applicants to choose from. A recent UCLA study estimates that between $1. 4 trillion and $3. trillion in taxable income would be generated for the economy over a 40 year period based upon estimates ranging between 825,000 and 2. 1 million potential Dream Act beneficiaries successfully obtaining resident status through the legislation.