The Dream Act (Amnesty)

"The DREAM Act would legalize 2.1 million illegal aliens who purportedly entered the United States before they were 16 years old. The legislation would give these illegals instate college tuition and permanent legal status. It would also invite massive fraud and abuse.

This political hot potato may well blow up in Democrats' faces. After all, the DREAM Act would legalize more than two million illegal aliens. In other words, that's amnesty for almost a fifth of the estimated illegal population.

Another way to think of the DREAM Act is as awarding in-state college tuition to illegal aliens. It gives away a benefit no American-born citizen can obtain. This Reid amnesty amendment treats a subset of illegal aliens better than it treats native-born Americans, who face their own challenges paying for a college education. The illegals can get student loans and federal work-study grants under DREAM.

The deceit surrounding this legislation is disgusting. Proponents of DREAM are trying to sell it by painting a false picture. They claim the illegal aliens who would benefit from DREAM are all children and teenagers brought to the United States at an early age. They've never known Mexico or Honduras and only their immigration status stands between them and achieving the American dream, we're told.

Here's a Reality Check: The DREAM Act is written so broadly, there's no way it would be limited to children. It's loophole-ridden by design. The DREAM Act amounts to a bait-and-switch--selling a limited legalization for the most sympathetic cases, but enacting an amnesty for adults up to age 35 (see S. 729 Section 4(a)(1)(F)).  Illegal aliens are supposed to have been present in the United States continuously for five years and were supposedly younger than 16 when they initially entered this country. Thus, they might have illegally entered the country and then left for years, only illegally returning about five years ago around age 30. But who really knows?

DREAM invites massive fraud, as occurred under the 1986 amnesty. This legislation leaves unaddressed how someone is supposed to prove his age.  Even if DREAM were tightened, made fraud-proof and targeted at truly deserving children brought here early and who have been in this country all their lives, DREAM still suffers a major flaw: It doesn't hold the illegal alien parents who put their kids in this predicament accountable. It continues the chain-migration system, through which legalized aliens can eventually sponsor many more millions of distant relatives for immigration visas. How is it fair to Americans to reward even a subset of illegals with the right to bring in aunts, uncles and cousins ad infinitum?

Amnesty DREAMers can be criminals. The legislation says these illegal aliens may not have been convicted of an aggravated felony or three or more misdemeanors. The fact that these aliens may have been charged with a slew of crimes wouldn't keep them from legalization.

Trying to attach the DREAM amnesty to the defense bill abuses the Senate process, insults our armed services and crams a fraud-magnet that will legalize millions of illegal aliens down America's throat--all by deception..." Edwards Jr., James R. "Reid Wants DREAM Act to Give Amnesty for Illegals." Human Events 66.33 (2010): 11. MAS Ultra.

Can we afford it?  Is amnesty the right way to go (again )?  

Response to comment [from other]:  "[A]mnesty would set a terrible example, never reward criminals."

We seem to do it time and time again. 

The Dream Act (Amnesty)