[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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