On the recordDecember 8, 2010
I introduced this bill 10 years ago. What I am attempting to do in this bill is to try to resolve an item of great injustice in America. All across this country are young boys and girls, young men and women who came to this country with their parents when they were only children, who were brought in by parents who were here in illegal status. They could have been parents who came here on a student visa and stayed beyond when they were supposed to. But the children have been raised in America. I learned of this issue in Chicago when a young Korean-American mother called and said: My daughter, I brought her here when she was 2 years old and I never filed any paperwork. She just completed high school. She has been accepted at Juilliard School of Music. She is an accomplished pianist. What should I do? When I contacted our immigration authorities, they said: Send her back to Korea. She is not an American citizen. She has no status in this country. Multiply that story many times over and you will know why I introduced the DREAM Act.
