Home Issues Immigration DREAM Act is: The ‘Development, Relief and Education for Alien Minors Act

DREAM Act is: The ‘Development, Relief and Education for Alien Minors Act

Today’s Washington Times published a news report, written by Stephen Dinan, one of those newspapers experienced journalists who have been covering the immigration beat for many years, in which Dinan reports on an extremely disturbing statement made by Nevada Senator Harry Reid. The news report, “Reid vows immigration vote in lame-duck Congress” quotes Reid as telling the audience of “Al Punto,” an Univision program that he would seek to force the United States Senate to vote on the DREAM Act in a lame-duck session!

If Reid wonders why his political star has dimmed and he now fears he may be forced to join millions of other unemployed Americans on the “Unemployment Line” perhaps he and his cohorts in Congress should understand that the citizens of our nation have had it with his betrayal of the citizens of our nation he was elected to represent!

The idea of using a lame-duck session of Congress to attempt to force such universally unpopular legislation down the throats of our citizens provides a clear and unambiguous example of the sort of chutzpah that has so angered and frustrated the citizens of our nation! (This is one of the very instances when I can use the terms “clear and unambiguous” in describing Reid- an aspiring master of obfuscation!)

I wrote a commentary about the DREAM Act in September where I discussed how the advocates for this chunk of legislative detritus were guilty of using false and misleading language in a desperate attempt to deceive the citizens of the United States. The reason I use the term desperate is because Reid is in the toughest re-election bid he has faced and is obviously attempting to promise to twist arms to appeal to those he desperately hopes will vote for him, even though, time after time, the citizens of our nation have made it abundantly clear that they oppose amnesty for millions of illegal aliens which is, in reality, what the DREAM Act is, notwithstanding its deceptively innocuous title.

First of all, the term DREAM Act obviously is meant to harken back to the wistful concept of the “American Dream!”

Here is a link to a great example of the misleading nature of the Dream Act:

http://www.dreamact2009.org/SENATEBILL729-TEXT.html

When you click on the link I provided you above, you will see a red, white and blue page with the photo of smiling young adults

You will also see the description of the Dream Act that says:

Where Dreams Come True! Bringing Hope & Promise To Our Children – The Future of America

If you don’t bother to read the entire bill or understand the intentions of the legislation, it would appear that the bill is intended to assist children. The citizens of our country are among the most generous and kind-hearted on the face of the planet and so I suspect that the point to using that phrasing and that photo, coupled with the red, white and blue color scheme is to evoke feelings of compassion, sympathy and empathy. Next the use of words is apparently designed to play upon the kindness and compassion of the American people. I want you to think about the words that comprise the acronym, DREAM- it is the wording that is an obvious attempt to be as deceptive as possible beginning with the title of this legislation.

The reason I have labeled the DREAM Act as being deceptively entitled is because the acronym for the DREAM Act is: the “Development, Relief and Education for Alien Minors Act”

I want you to consider the term “Minor” that is a part of the acronym DREAM Act:

Here is the result of an online search of the MSN Encarta Dictionary yielded for the term “Minor:”

Definition:

1. law somebody not legally adult: somebody who is not yet legally an adult

Now I want you to read the eligibility requirements according to the DREAM Act legislation in the House of Representatives version of the bill:

(B) the alien has been a person of good moral character since the time of application;

(C) the alien–

(i) is not inadmissible under paragraph (2), (3), (6)(E), or (10)(C) of section 212(a) of the Immigration and Nationality Act (8 U.S.C. 1182(a)); and

(ii) is not deportable under paragraph (1)(E), (2), or (4) of section 237(a) of the Immigration and Nationality Act (8 U.S.C. 1227(a));

(D) the alien, at the time of application, has been admitted to an institution of higher education in the United States, or has earned a high school diploma or obtained a general education development certificate in the United States;

(E) the alien has never been under a final administrative or judicial order of exclusion, deportation, or removal, unless the alien–

(i) has remained in the United States under color of law after such order was issued; or

(ii) received the order before attaining the age of 16 years; and

(F) the alien had not yet reached the age of 35 years on the date of the enactment of this Act.

Check out that last line again:

(F) the alien had not yet reached the age of 35 years on the date of the enactment of this Act.

Stop and give this some really serious thought!

The DREAM Act is supposedly intended to assist children (minors)- here is the acronym, once again:

Development, Relief and Education for Alien Minors Act”

Yet the version of the House bill would enable aliens who are as old as 34 years of age to benefit from this legislation! In what country on this planet is any person who is 34 years old considered to be a “minor?”

And it gets even worse!

For aliens who are otherwise ineligible to receive the benefits of this bill there is a waiver that could be used to remove (waive) a ground of ineligibility. Presumably this would even be possible for aliens older than 34!

Here is the waiver:

2) WAIVER- Notwithstanding paragraph (1), the Secretary of Homeland Security may waive the ground of ineligibility under section 212(a)(6)(E) of the Immigration and Nationality Act and the ground of deportability under paragraph (1)(E) of section 237(a) of that Act for humanitarian purposes or family unity or when it is otherwise in the public interest.

The bill would allow aliens who are otherwise ineligible to receive a waiver and hence the alien would then be entitled for the “humanitarian purposes of family unity or when it is otherwise in the public interest.”

In my judgment, this entire bill is not in the public interest! So by what standard with the folks at USCIS (United States Citizenship and Immigration Services) determine what is in the “public interest?” How might “family unity” be interpreted to enable even more aliens to participate?

Here are a few more factors for you to consider:

The Senate version of the bill, the one that Mr. Reid is promising to once again foist on the unwilling citizens of the United States, has no age limit at all!

Finally, any alien “minor” would be able to file to provide family members with lawful status and place them on the same pathway to United States citizenship!

This would mean that if an alien who was found to be eligible to participate in the DREAM Act, he (she) could then apply to have all of his siblings, even if they were older than he was, to also acquire lawful immigrant status along with their spouses and minor children! The alien would also be allowed to apply to provide lawful status for his (her) parents and place them on the “pathway to United States citizenship!”

We really need to come up with a new dictionary for members of the federal government.

Bill Clinton helped us to redefine the word “is.”

Janet Napolitano and Chuck Schumer have helped us to consider what the word secure means, as in “The borders are secure.”

Napolitano has also provided us with an opportunity to consider what the phrase the “System worked” when a thankfully inept terrorist the so-called “Underwear Bomber,” Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab failed to effectively set off a bomb hidden in his underwear as the Northwest Airlines flight in which he was a passenger, was descending into Detroit, Michigan on Christmas Day last year. Ms Napolitano conducted a news conference the next day and proclaimed the “system worked!”

Of course no one knew what system she was referring to because even though there were efforts made by Abdulmutallab’s father to alert our government about his son’s radicalization, the terrorist managed to board that airliner with his bomb!

Now Harry Reid and the other “usual suspects” have given us a new word to add to the Newspeak Lexicon: “Minor!”

Perhaps the DREAM Act which I came to refer to as the “Nightmare Act” should be given a new name, perhaps the “Freddy Khruger Act” would be more appropriate!

After all, it is Halloween!

Freddy Krugher

Harry Reid is out “Trick or Treating” and it would appear that he and his coconspirators on “The Hill” are attempting to Trick the citizens of our nation while treating illegal aliens!

No matter how many times it dies in Congress, it somehow always manages to come back to life with folks like Harry Reid willing to give it CPR!

While Illegal aliens attempt to circumvent our nation’s laws and borders, Reid and company are attempting to circumvent the will of the American people!

We the People can add to the consternation of these politicians who are failing to live up to their oaths of office by contacting them and making it abundantly clear that election day is coming and they should think of election day as their personal “Day of Reckoning!” . Our government must live up to its obligation of protecting its own citizens and, indeed, all who are present in our country from the criminals and terrorists who would threaten our lives and the survival of our nation and our way of life. In the end, the government is actually those who are elected to act as our “leaders.” Those who fail to truly lead and look out for those they are supposed to represent, need to be sent packing this coming Election Day!

If our country is to survive and if our children and their children are to get their share of the “American Dream” the citizens of this nation must take their citizenship seriously!

We the People must be the best citizens we can be, citizens who are worthy of the gallantry demonstrated by our valiant men and women in the military, law enforcement and firefighters, who routinely go in harm’s way in defense of this nation and our citizens.

My goal in writing this and other commentaries is to point out our nations many failings *before* more victims pay the ultimate price for the incompetence and ineptitude of our government.

The first step in problem-solving is to first identify the problems and vulnerabilities and then devise strategies to overcome them.

Any politician who refuses to work to secure our borders and create an immigration system that has integrity is either corrupt or too dumb to keep his (her) job. Any politician, irrespective of party affiliation who favors Comprehensive Immigration Reform and the outrageous betrayal that this would represent given the national security implications that this program would have, should be shown the door at the next election!

If you find yourself to be in agreement with this commentary, I ask that you forward it to as many of your friends and family members as possible and encourage them to do the same. We need to create a “Bucket Brigade of Truth!”

In just two days, each and every member of the House of Representatives is up for reelection and more than one third of the members of the United States Senate will have to face their constituents. They need to be reminded that they work for us, We the People!

However, the practice of good citizenship does not end in the voting booth, it only begins there.

The large scale apathy demonstrated by citizens of this nation has emboldened elected representatives to all but ignore the needs of the average American citizen in a quest for massive campaign funds and the promises of votes to be ostensibly delivered by special interest groups. There is much that we cannot do but there is one thing that We the People absolutely must do- we must stop sitting on the sidelines!

The collective failure of We the People to get involved in make our concerns known to our politicians have nearly made the concerns of the great majority of the citizens of this nation all but irrelevant to the politicians. I implore you to get involved!

If this situation concerns you or especially if it angers you, I ask you to call your Senators and Congressional “Representative. This is not only your right- it is your obligation!

All I ask is that you make it clear to our politicians that we are not as dumb as they hope we are!

We live in a perilous world and in a perilous era. The survival of our nation and the lives of our citizens hang in the balance.

This is neither a Conservative issue, nor is it a Liberal issue- simply stated; this is most certainly an AMERICAN issue!

You are either part of the solution or you are a part of the problem!

Democracy is not a spectator sport!

Lead, follow or get out of the way!

Michael Cutler, a former Senior INS Investigator, an expert witness in more than a dozen Congressional Hearings is a Fellow at the Center for Immigration Studies and an advisor to the ‘911 Families for a Secure America.’ He writes about the nexus between immigration and national security.

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