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 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.

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