These are students who were brought to the US as children, and who, because of their lack of citizenship, are unable to realize their dreams of higher education. 65,000 of these students graduate from high school each year and are unable to work legally, or attend college.

This is wrong for America, and it’s wrong for our communities:

1. Education (at any level) is a universal right.
2. Not helping students’ attend college results in much greater costs to the state and contributes to an uneducated workforce

The “DREAM Act” and “American Dream Act” provide an opportunity for U.S.-raised students to earn U.S. citizenship. The “DREAM Act” would allow certain immigrant students to adjust their status to that of a legal permanent resident on a conditional basis for six years based on the following requirements:

• Age. Immigrant students must have entered the U.S. before age 16.

• Academic requirement. Students must have been accepted for admission into a two or four-year institution of higher education or have earned a high school diploma or a general educational development (GED) certificate at the time of application for relief. or served in the U.S. armed forces for at least 2 years.

• Long-term U.S. residence. Students must reside in the U.S. when the law is enacted. In addition, those eligible must have lived in the U.S. for at least five years preceding the date of enactment of the Act.

• Good moral character. Immigrant students must demonstrate good moral character, a defined term in immigration law. In general, students must have no criminal record.

The DREAM act isn’t just important to immigrant students, it is important for all of us.

The time is now to fix the problem.

The Majority Leader of the U.S. House of Representatives has been convicted four times of ethics violations, and is under indictment for money laundering; the Majority Leader in the Senate, one of our Senators, is under investigation, both criminally and civilly; and for the first time in 135 years someone working in the White House has been indicted. Here at home in Tennessee, long-trusted elected officials sold our trust for a few thousand dollars.

This has to end.
 
“We believe that ethics reforms should be of highest standards,” said Christy Holden, TFCD President. “Democrats are committed to making government once again open and honest.”

Democrats in Congress have proposed a plan to end business as usual in the nation’s capital. With their “Honest Leadership, Open Government” Act, Democrats pledge to:

• Fix the gift and travel rules that allowed the Jack Abramoffs of the world to buy Republican influence in Congress,
• Increase transparency and accountability in government,
• Allow the public to see exactly what their elected representatives are doing in Washington , and
• Close the revolving door between government and K Street lobbying firms.

“We will expose the deepest roots of the culture of corruption that has so pervasively strangled the Senate and House, and give the American people a government they can at last respect, because it will be a government that respects them,” said Rep. Louise Slaughter (D-NY). “And my friends, together America can do better, because America is better. We’re going to take our country back. And we throw the gauntlet down today.”