On the recordJune 23, 2016
15 years ago I introduced a bill called the DREAM Act. The DREAM Act was designed to give children brought to the United States by their parents, who were undocumented, a chance--a path toward legalization, a path toward citizenship. These were people, now in their teens and early 20s, who were brought to the United States as infants and children. It was not their conscious decision to come to this country; it was a decision by their parents. They have grown up in the United States. It is estimated that 2.5 million young people came to this country under these circumstances. So many of them have done everything they have been asked to do--completed their education, stood up in a classroom every morning and pledged allegiance to that flag--the only flag they have ever known, become part of America, excelled academically, started dreaming about what they might do as Americans to make their lives better and this country better. But the law in the United States is very harsh when it comes to these young people. In its bleakest terms, the law says they have to leave the United States for 10 years and petition to come back in. Here they are, 18, 19 years of age, being told: Now that you have graduated from high school, whatever your status, leave. Go back somewhere where you cannot ever remember living and wait 10 years.…
