[Congressional Record Volume 157, Number 140 (Tuesday, September 20, 2011)]
[Senate]
[Pages S5738-S5739]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                             THE DREAM ACT

  Mr. DURBIN. Madam President, it was 10 years ago when I introduced 
the DREAM Act. It is an important piece of legislation for thousands of 
people who are living in America who are literally without status, 
without a country.
  The DREAM Act says, if one came to the United States as a child, if 
they are a long-term U.S. resident, if they have good moral character, 
if they have graduated from high school and they are prepared to 
complete 2 years of college or enlist in our military, we will give 
them a chance to be legal in America. That is what it says.
  The young people who are affected by it are many times people who 
have never known another country in their lives. They got up at school, 
as Senator Menendez has said so artfully, they pledged allegiance to 
the only flag they have ever known. They sing the only national anthem 
they have ever known. They speak English and want a future in America. 
Yet they have no country. Because their parents brought them to this 
country as children, because their parents did not file the necessary 
papers, they are without a country and without a future. The DREAM Act 
gives them a chance--a chance to excel and prove they can make this a 
better nation.
  The Obama administration recently made an announcement that I think 
is not only the right thing to do but paves the way for us to give 
these young people a chance.
  We think we have 10 million undocumented people in America, and it is 
very clear the Department of Homeland Security is not going to deport 
10 million people--that is physically impossible--nor should we. I 
certainly would be opposed to that notion. But what they are trying to 
do is to remove those people from America who are undocumented who pose 
a threat to our Nation.
  They have been criticized by some. The deportations under the Obama 
administration are even higher than the Bush administration. They have 
tried to go after those with criminal records and those who are not 
going to be a benefit to the United States, and I think that is the 
right approach to use. But they said recently that they were going to 
make it clear that those eligible for the DREAM Act, these young 
people, of good moral character, graduates of high school, and those 
who are pursuing college degrees, are not going to be their targets. 
They have limited resources. They are going after the people who can 
threaten our country, those whom we don't want in the United States. I 
think that was the right thing to do, and I think that was a policy 
consistent with keeping America strong and building for America's 
future. But we need to do more.
  In addition to having a sensible policy when it comes to deportation, 
we need a sensible immigration policy, and I think it starts with the 
DREAM Act.
  I have come to the floor many times and told the stories about the 
young people who would be affected by the DREAM Act. Let me tell you 
two stories this morning that I think are illustrative of why this is 
morally important and important for us as a nation to consider as 
quickly as possible.
  This wonderful young lady whom I have met is named Mandeep Chahal. 
She was brought to the United States from India 14 years ago, when she 
was 6 years old. Today, Mandeep is 20. She is an academic all-star. She 
is an honors premed student at the University of California, Davis, 
where she is majoring in neurology, physiology, and behavior.
  Mandeep has also been dedicated to public service. In high school, 
she helped to found an organization known as One Dollar for Life, for 
poverty relief around the world. She was voted

[[Page S5739]]

the member of her class ``most likely to save the world.'' At her 
college, Mandeep is the copresident of STAND, an antigenocide group.
  Mandeep has so much to offer America. But, unfortunately, she was 
placed in deportation proceedings earlier this year. Mandeep and her 
friends responded the way many young people do today--they went to 
Facebook and asked for help.
  The response was amazing: 20,000 people sent faxes to the Department 
of Homeland Security to save this young lady from deportation. On the 
day she was scheduled to be deported, she was granted a 1-year stay.
  Her first thought was to try to prevent other people from going 
through what she had just experienced. So just 1 week after her 
deportation was suspended, she came to the U.S. Capitol, where I had an 
opportunity to meet her. She spoke publicly about her experience, and 
she called for the deportations of all DREAM Act students to be 
suspended.
  I met her while she was here and asked her to explain to me why she 
wants to stay. She said: ``I will send you a letter,'' and she did. 
Here is what it said:

       I have spent years in the United States, and consider it my 
     only home. My family, friends, and future are in the United 
     States, which is where I belong. My dream is to become a 
     pediatrician so I can treat the most helpless and innocent 
     among us. I hope to serve families in low income communities 
     who are otherwise unable to afford medical care. I wish to 
     remain in the United States so that I can continue to make a 
     positive difference and give back to the community that has 
     given me so much.

  Would America be better off if we deported Mandeep Chahal back to 
India? I don't think so. She left that country when she was 6 years 
old. In her heart, she is an American. She just wants a chance to prove 
it and to make this a better nation.
  Let me introduce to you one other person whom I have also met, 
another wonderful story.
  Fannie Martinez, brought to the United States from Mexico 9 years ago 
when she was 13. She lives in Addison, in the State of Illinois, a 
straight A student in high school. Earlier this year, she graduated 
summa cum laude at Dominican University in River Forest, IL, with a 
major in sociology. This month she is beginning to work on a master's 
degree at the University of Chicago's Harris School of Public Policy.
  Keep in mind, these students who are excelling get no help--none--
from the Federal Government. If we think college is a burden now for 
those who borrow the money or are given grants, most of these students 
have to earn the money if they are going to go through school.
  Let me tell you something else about Fannie Martinez. She is married 
to David Martinez, who has served in the U.S. Army Reserves for the 
last 8 years. Here is a picture of the two of them together. David is 
currently deployed to Afghanistan, putting his life on the line for our 
country. Yet his worry is not just the enemy in Afghanistan. His worry 
is that his wife Fannie is going to be deported while he is serving 
overseas.
  Fannie sent me a letter, and here is what she said about her 
situation:

       My husband is constantly worried about my status in this 
     country. He knows that I am always at risk of being placed in 
     deportation proceedings and he is afraid of not having his 
     wife with him once he returns from Afghanistan. The passage 
     of the DREAM Act will give me the confidence to live without 
     fear and frustration. It will allow me and my husband to plan 
     our future without having to deal with the possibility of my 
     deportation and my lack of opportunities. I care about my 
     community--

  Fannie wrote--

     and I know I can help improve society if I am allowed to live 
     in the U.S. and am given lawful permanent residence.

  David Martinez, her husband, is willing to give his life for our 
country. We should give him and his wife Fannie a chance to pursue 
their dreams--the American dream.
  I don't know that I have ever dealt with an issue that has meant so 
much to me personally because there isn't a place I go in America--
anywhere--that I don't have some young person come up and look me in 
the eye and say: I am a DREAMer. I am counting on you.
  They are counting not just on me, but they are counting on the 
Senate, they are counting on the Congress, they are counting on our 
government and our Nation to step forward and realize this is the 
morally right thing to do and that these dynamic, wonderful young 
people will make this a better nation.
  I urge my colleagues, please, put partisanship aside, support the 
DREAM Act. It is the right thing to do for the future of our Nation.
  I yield the floor and I suggest the absence of a quorum.
  The ACTING PRESIDENT pro tempore. The clerk will call the roll.
  The assistant legislative clerk proceeded to call the roll.
  The ACTING PRESIDENT pro tempore. The majority leader.

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