We Have a Dream

With debate over the Development, Relief, and Education for Alien Minors Act roaring, Harvard University President Drew G. Faust reaffirmed her position in support of the act on Monday by co-signing, with seven fellow Massachusetts university presidents, a letter to Senators Kerry and Brown that strongly supported the act. Although the DREAM Act is an important stepping-stone toward a solution to America’s illegal immigration crisis, the act alone is not enough to rectify the current problems with immigration in the United States.

The DREAM Act allows undocumented youths who qualify to enter a six-year path to citizenship, provided they serve two years in the military or complete two years of higher education. We understand the reasoning behind such a program, as it will help non-citizens who will contribute positively to society become citizens. Yet such conditions of service should not be made permanent in the future for all youths vying for citizenship. Paying one’s taxes and playing a responsible role in American society should be enough for all citizens, and we cannot have a system by which certain Americans’ patriotism or loyalty can be officially doubted and only confirmed through extra measures such as military service or higher education.

The problem of immigration in the United States is a great one that has defied both decades and administrations. As such, the DREAM Act cannot represent the end game in this process, or we will have only taken a small measure to stopgap a much greater problem: Amnesty must be granted to everyone currently in the United States. Entering everyone into the citizenship process would not entail the chaos or drastic change that opponents might expect. If anything, amnesty’s greatest impact will be the resolution of a situation with no better alternative.

We recognize that such a move will potentially put more pressure on our borders, and a major concern would be that more people might pursue illegal entrance into our nation. To address that concern, systematic and dedicated investment will be necessary to bolster our border control and its supervision. Improvements will have to be made at all levels of our border protection.

Still, given the current political climate, the DREAM Act remains the best we can do to move toward a solution right away. We call for its prompt passing so we can immediately protect and work to include those who will benefit from the Act. Another measure that we can see for quick implementation, however, would be to lower the cost of taking the exam for U.S. citizenship. Many would-be citizens study and prepare themselves for the major step of passing the naturalization test, only to be stymied by the different fees involved in the process, which run into several hundred dollars. The cost of testing one’s readiness for naturalization should not be a problem of its own, and must be lowered.

The passage of the DREAM Act will be an important day for America, but it should not be left to stand alone. Only eventual amnesty will bring an end to our immigration crisis.