DREAM ACT 2009
East Chicago Common Council will vote on a Resolution to Support the D.R.E.A.M. ACT
(East Chicago, IN) Mayor George Pabey and the City of East Chicago have joined together in order to support youth access to higher education and legal residency in the U.S. called the DREAM (Development, Relief, and Education for Alien Minors) ACT 2009 initiative at the federal level with a special resolution to go before the East Chicago Common Council.
“East Chicago is truly a melting pot and at one time our community had over 70 different nationalities residing here,” said Mayor Pabey. “Last year, we had a honor student that was directly affected by limitations in our educational support system. That is simply unacceptable.”
Every year thousands of immigrant students are prevented from reaching dreams of going to college because of their lack of legal status. The D.R.E.A..M Act would allow children and students, who have grown up in the United States, have graduated from high school and have no criminal record, to attend college and legalize their immigration status.
Since 2001, the Dream Act initiative was proposed but has not been approved due to lack of Congress and Presidential support, but now with a new president and changes in both houses there is a new hope. Considering that Democrats have won more than 5 seats in the Senate elections in November 2008, and with the possibility of having 60 votes in the Senate, there is new hope that the DREAM Act will be approved.
“This Act is vital to our country’s growth,” said Richard Medina, City of East Chicago Common Council president. “We have to place our youth in a position to succeed because failure is not an option, especially when they exemplify a great commitment to their studies and excel in school.”
The Dream Act is not currently a high priority on the legislative agenda of President Obama, and in order to change that many local cities are proposing and supporting resolutions to urge that President Barack Obama should place the DREAM ACT as a priority in his agenda for 2009. In addition to generally promoting DREAM, and increasing civic participation, the strategy of obtaining City Council resolutions is designed to be able to get access to the White House office in charge of intergovernmental relations..