The DREAM Act was a US bill that aimed to legalize the status of children who entered the country illegally as a result of their parents’ immigration. To qualify, they had to enter before 15, complete a US high school course, and have good moral character. The residency period was set at five years, during which time they had to complete two years of college or military service. The bill passed the House but died in the Senate. Some states have passed laws allowing undocumented immigrants to apply for state tuition and are drafting state-specific DREAM Act legislation.
The Development, Relief and Education for Minors Act, more commonly known as the DREAM Act, was a US bill designed to legalize the status of children who entered the United States as a result of their parents’ illegal immigration. However, not all children were covered. Only children who entered the country at a young age, then successfully completed a U.S. course of secondary education, would qualify. The act was originally proposed in 2001, then reintroduced in 2009. He died in the Senate in late 2010.
To qualify for DREAM Act amnesty, a child must have entered the United States illegally when younger than 15 and must have subsequently graduated from a U.S. high school or high school equivalency program. The DREAM Act also required applicants to be of good moral character, which is generally understood to mean no prior criminal record, misdemeanor or drug charges, and no suspension from school, among other things. Had these conditions been met, the applicant would have been eligible for conditional permanent residence status.
A person with Conditional Permanent Resident status is legal in the eyes of US immigration law, but only for a specific amount of time and only under certain conditions. The DREAM Act set the residency period at five years and would require beneficiaries to complete at least two years of college or two years of U.S. military service within that period. Had these requirements been met, the residency status could have been renewed for another five years. Only after living in the United States for ten full years as a conditional permanent resident could a person apply for full legal resident status.
Part of the argument in support of the DREAM Act was the increase in the cost of tuition fees. Many U.S. students fund their college education through federal grants and student loans, few of which are available to undocumented foreigners. Most public universities also offer steep discounts for in-state residents. However, these residents must, in almost all cases, be legally present in the state to be eligible. Giving high-status illegal immigrants conditional residency status would have allowed them to apply for student loans and made them eligible for tuition discounts at some schools.
The DREAM bill passed the House of Representatives in 2010, but died in the Senate. Under US law, an act cannot be signed into law unless both the House and Senate agree on the terms. However, this does not prevent individual states from acting independently.
Many state legislatures, including California and Texas, have already passed laws allowing undocumented illegal immigrants to apply for state tuition. These and other states are also drafting state-specific DREAM Act legislation. The California DREAM Act, for example, would adopt most of the terms and conditions from the federal iteration, just in a state-specific format. Similar legislation has been proposed in at least five other states.
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