Fri May 18, 2012
Jenna Mamorsky
Immigrants Dream America, Too
By Jenna Mamorsky, Colorado– June 2010
Eric Balderas is a sophomore at Harvard with a major in molecular biology and a dream of becoming a cancer researcher. So why are his dreams about to get tossed out the window? Balderas faces deportation and may be forced to drop out of college and move back to Mexico.
Balderas is just one of thousands of young people who have lived in the US since they were young children, but whose parents came here illegally. Like Balderas many of these young people have excelled in American schools and gained entry into competitive colleges. Yet today they may fall victim to new immigration laws like the one in Arizona if they are caught by law enforcement without the right papers.
Arizona’s law, which is slated to go into effect late July or the beginning of August, requires those accused of a misdemeanor to show proof of citizenship. But many immigrants and sympathizers are concerned that this law gives police widespread authority to question anyone they suspect might be in the country illegally to show their papers. Further, the law also threatens employers who have hired illegal immigrants to do jobs that many US citizens don’t want to do.
You would think that given the history of this country we would be more sensitive to racial profiling. How could we in good conscience send someone who speaks fluent English, excels in American schools with high hopes of making a contribution to US society back to Mexico?
Eric Balderas shouldn’t be punished for his hard work. He shouldn’t have to surrender his dreams just because he came to this country with his parents when he was a young boy. Moreover, there are literally millions of legal US citizens who have barely accomplished half of what Balderas has achieved so why should he be targeted?
On May 17 Raul Alcaraz. Lizbeth Mateo, Tania Unzueta, Mohammad Abdollahi, Yahaira Carrillo, and a large group of immigrant students staged a sit-in protest outside Senator John McCain’s office in Arizona to create awareness of The Dream Act. The Dream Act, (the development, relief and education for alien minors) would permit undocumented students, like Eric Balderas who came to the US as children and who graduated from US high schools in good standing to earn permanent residency so that they would be legally allowed to attend college and graduate schools.
The passage of the Dream Act makes a lot of sense. America benefits from the best and the brightest minds – people who want to contribute to the country. Indeed, the Dream Act is very important to these students, many of whom risked deportation by identifying themselves in a protest because they want to bring about change.
It’s true that not every illegal immigrant living in the US has big dreams like Eric Balderas has. It’s also true that Arizona and other Southern Border States have a problem with members of Mexican drug cartels and other criminals escaping justice in Mexico and illegally entering the U.S.
But any law that Arizona or any other state passes must distinguish between the Eric Balderases and others who through their violent actions want to hurt America and its citizens. Let’s pass the Dream Act and nurture the aspirations of students who want to contribute to America’s success.
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