Tara J. Goldsmith Immigration Law Blog on Lawyers.com

Dreaming of a Dream Act

Tuesday, December 14, 2010 by Tara J. Goldsmith

Last week I spoke to an engaging group of foreign students at Columbia University about various options that might allow them to work after graduation. Of course, in this job market it is difficult enough to find a job, let alone also convincing an employer to sponsor you for a nonimmigrant visa or green card. But the bottom line is that most of these students will go on to find an employer, work on a nonimmigrant visa, and maybe even become permanents residents or citizens. I couldn’t help think last week that perhaps several of these “children” if they are here illegally, no matter how hard they try, may never even get this type of opportunity.

It is estimated that about 11 million people live in the United States illegally. Of that number, millions are children who were brought to the US by their parents and have since grown up here. And there is little to nothing that they can do to change their situation and become legal, which of course affects their ability to go to school, drive a car, or work. To me, it seems incredibly unfair to penalize innocent children for a decision that they did not make. Since 2001 there has been proposed legislation to do something about this and last week we became extremely close to a solution.

The Development, Relief and Education for Alien Minors Act (with the appropriate acronym of “the DREAM Act”) would provide children who meet certain requirements with the opportunity to earn conditional permanent residency if they complete two years in the military or two years at a four year institution of higher learning. These foreign nationals then have an opportunity to apply for permanent residency or even citizenship. A version of the Act was passed by the House last week and now awaits debate on the Senate floor. Until then, all we can do is dream…

For more than 30 years,
the law firm of Garganigo, Goldsmith & Weiss has been assisting people with immigration, green card or visa issues. For more information on how our immigration law firm in NY can help, please call us at 212-643-6400, email us online, or visit our office at 14 Penn Plaza, Suite 1020, New York, NY 10122.

Posted at 10:52 AM

Topic: Immigration