Political Quotes

“it was 16 years ago when I introduced the DREAM Act. The DREAM Act was a response to a call I received in my office. A young woman had been brought to the United States as an infant, at the age of 2, from Korea. She lived in the United States and grew up here. When she became an accomplished pianist and was accepted at some of the best musical schools in the Nation, she started to apply but didn't know what to put down in terms of her citizenship. She called and asked, and it turned out that her mom and dad had never filed the papers that would have allowed her to become a citizen of the United States. She was undocumented. Through no fault of her own-- brought to the United States--her papers weren't filed. She grew up in Chicago, went to school, and did well, despite having a family of modest means. As I said, she developed a skill as a pianist and now had an opportunity of a lifetime and wanted to know what her legal status was. We checked the law, and it was pretty clear. She was undocumented, and the laws of America said you have to leave for 10 years, go outside of the United States, and petition to come back. It didn't seem fair or reasonable that a child, an infant of 2, would be held responsible for mistakes made by their parents, so I introduced the DREAM Act.…”