[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 157 (2011), Part 6]
[Senate]
[Pages 8200-8201]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




                               DREAM ACT

  Mr. DURBIN. Mr. President, it was 10 years ago I was contacted in my 
Chicago office by a mom, a Korean American. She had a problem. She had 
come to this country from Brazil with her young daughter. The family 
was originally from Korea, but they came to the country from Brazil. 
Her daughter came at the age of 2 and grew up in Chicago. She was a 
bright girl with a lot of talent and particularly turned out to be a 
musical prodigy. By the time she was ready to graduate from high 
school, she had offers to go to the best music schools--the Manhattan 
School of Music, the Julliard School of Music.
  As she filled out her application forms, there was a little blank 
that said ``citizenship.'' She turned to her mom and said: What am I 
supposed to put here? Her mom said: I don't know. We never filed any 
papers. You were brought in here at the age of 2. We better do 
something.
  Her daughter said: What are we going to do?
  Her mom said: We are going to call Senator Durbin.
  They called my office hoping to come up with a solution. 
Unfortunately, I could not. The law is very clear. She not only would 
have been deported from America, she would have been deported back to 
Brazil, a place where the little girl had never lived or a language she 
never mastered. She was supposed to wait there for 10 years and try to 
get back in the United States.
  It struck me that was unfair. That is when I introduced the DREAM 
Act. The idea behind the DREAM Act is to give young children who are 
now in young adulthood a chance to become legal in America. I 
introduced the bill 10 years ago and called it up several times on the 
Senate floor in the last 10 years. I think on every occasion we had a 
majority vote. The last time we had 55 votes of 100 in the Senate, but 
the filibuster rule requires 60. It fell short of passing.
  What the bill says is very basic. The DREAM Act would give students a 
chance to become legal if they came to the United States as children; 
they are long-term residents of the United States; they have good moral 
character; they graduate from high school; and they complete at least 2 
years of college or military service in good standing. It is not too 
much to ask to give these young people a chance.
  Two weeks ago, I reintroduced the DREAM Act with 33 of my colleagues. 
I am going to do everything I can to pass the legislation this year or 
next year. This is a matter of simple justice. There is not another 
situation in America where we hold children accountable for the 
wrongdoing of their parents except in this case. It is just not fair. 
These children did not have a vote or a voice in coming to America. 
They were brought here, and they did the right thing once they came.
  They went to school. They did well. They got up every morning and 
pledged allegiance to the only flag they knew. They sang the National 
Anthem--the only one they knew. They believed they were really 
Americans, but a rude awakening came when they came to learn they were 
not. I guess they might have been viewed more as people without a 
country.
  What will the passage of the DREAM Act bring us other than justice? 
It will bring us some of the most talented people in America who want 
to make this a better nation. These are young people who really worked 
hard. Their parents were immigrants to this country and most of the 
time had to take very difficult jobs and work extra hard so the kids 
could finish school. Many of these young people turned out to be 
excellent students--valedictorians of their classes and stars in many 
other respects. Now some of them just want a chance to serve in our 
military. That says a lot about them too, that they are willing to risk 
their lives for America.
  Is there any question about their patriotism or their love of this 
country or they want to finish college so they can use their skills and 
education to improve their lives and make this a better nation.
  We have the support of the Defense Secretary, Robert Gates, for the 
DREAM Act, GEN Colin Powell--a man I respect very much--Rupert Murdoch, 
a very conservative Republican businessman supports it, and CEOs of 
companies such as Microsoft and Pfizer.
  Every day I hear from another one of these dreamers. They come up to 
me sometimes very quietly and sometimes very publicly and tell me their 
stories. Just the other day a young man came up to me as I was leaving 
a speech here in Washington, and he said: Senator, I just want to let 
you know I am finishing law school. I cannot be licensed in America 
because I am not an American citizen. I will pursue my education until 
you pass the DREAM Act.
  I thought about it. This poor young man deserves a chance to use his 
education not just to continue it. That gives me more of an incentive 
to work on this issue.
  Let me tell a story tonight in the few minutes I have about two of 
these dreamers. This is Juan Gomez. This handsome young man was brought 
to the United States from Colombia in 1990 at the age of 2. He is an 
academic all-star at Killian Senior High School in Miami, FL. He earned 
close to 2 years of college credit with high scores on 13 advanced 
placement exams. He scored 1410 out of 1600 on the SAT, and he finished 
in the top 20 percent of his class. His economics teacher nicknamed him 
``President Gomez'' and said he is one of the best students ever to 
graduate from Killian High School.
  In 2007, during his senior year in high school, he was placed in 
deportation proceedings. What happened next is an amazing story.
  Scot Elfenbein was the student body President at Juan's high school. 
He was also Juan's best friend. He thought it was basically unfair that 
this young man would be rooted out of school and tossed back into a 
country he never remembered. Scott started a Facebook page devoted to 
stopping Juan's deportation. Here is what he wrote on the Facebook 
page:

       We need your help in saving Juan from being sent to 
     Colombia--a country he doesn't even remember. For those of 
     you who know Juan, he is the smartest and most dedicated kid 
     you ever met. He deserves more than to just be deported. Many 
     of us owe him. I know he helped everyone one way or another 
     in school. It's the least we can do for him.

  Thanks to Scott's initiative, 2,000 people joined Juan's Facebook 
page. Then Juan's friends came here on Capitol Hill to lobby for him. 
They persuaded Representative Lincoln Diaz-Balart and Senator Chris 
Dodd to introduce a bill to stop his deportation. Representative Diaz-
Balart is a Republican, but he is also one of the lead sponsors of the 
DREAM Act in the House. My good friend and former Senator Chris Dodd 
is, of course, a Democrat. So it is obvious this isn't a partisan 
issue. Republicans and Democrats should basically come together and 
agree that to punish this young man because his parents came here 
illegally is fundamentally unfair.
  After his deportation was stayed, Juan was admitted to Georgetown 
University on a full scholarship. He is going to graduate from 
Georgetown in May. And thanks to Congressman Diaz-Balart, he has a 
temporary work permit and has been offered a job at a top financial 
services firm in New York City. Can we use a person with his skill? Of 
course we can. Every year we import thousands of foreigners on H-1B 
visas. Do you know why? Because we say we need these bright minds in 
America. Well, if we need bright minds in America, why are we exporting 
those who were raised here and who can bring their skills and talents 
to a better life for themselves and our Nation?
  Let me introduce another person to you. Her name is Ola Kaso. She was

[[Page 8201]]

brought to the United States by her mother from Albania in 1998 when 
she was 5 years old. Ola is a senior in high school in Warren, MI. She 
is the valedictorian of her class. She has taken every advanced 
placement class offered by her school. She has a 4.4 grade point 
average--a very bright young lady. Ola is on the varsity cross-country 
and tennis teams, she is treasurer of the student council and treasurer 
of the National Honor Society at her school. She tutors students who 
are learning English. Ola was also a member of her homecoming court. 
This is a great picture of her. Here she is at her high school at 
homecoming.
  She sent me a letter. She has been accepted into the honors program 
at the University of Michigan, where she will be a pre-med student. 
Here is what her letter said:

       I aspire to ultimately becoming a surgical oncologist, but 
     more importantly, I intend to work for patients who cannot 
     afford the astronomical fees accompanying lifesaving 
     surgeries, patients that are denied the medical treatment 
     they deserve. My goal is not to increase my bank account; my 
     goal is to decrease preventable deaths. I wish to remain in 
     this country to make a difference.

  Do we need her? You bet we do.
  Two months ago, Ola was placed in deportation proceedings. Just like 
Juan Gomez and many other DREAM Act students, Ola's friends decided to 
rally behind her. Senator Levin, a cosponsor of the DREAM Act, asked 
the Department of Homeland Security to reconsider her case. This week, 
the Department granted a stay of deportation to give her a chance to 
continue her education. That was the right thing to do. It makes no 
sense to send someone like Ola, who has so much to contribute to 
America, to a country she barely remembers.
  I introduced the DREAM Act in 2001. Since then, I have met so many of 
these young immigrant students who are qualified for the DREAM Act. 
Like Juan Gomez and Ola Kaso, they are Americans in their hearts. They 
are willing to serve our country and to die for it if we would only 
give them a chance. Simple justice and fairness requires it.
  I ask my colleagues to support the DREAM Act. It is the right thing 
to do. It will make America a stronger and better nation. One thing I 
am sure of is that if we give these young dreamers a chance, they won't 
let us down.
  Mr. President, I yield the floor.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Senator from Minnesota.

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