The Dream Act

Floor Speech

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 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.

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