Our children need your help.

Every day, we are bombarded with myths and disinformation in regards to immigration issues. For centuries, immigrants have been used as scapegoats for all sorts of societal ills, though there has never been any evidence to back up these attacks. In fact, the reverse is usually true. It’s important that, before we make up our minds on an issue, we know the truth and that we think about what’s really happening and what kind of people we want to be. People’s lives are at stake as we have these conversations, so we must be thoughtful and compassionate and support solutions that will help them, while avoiding causing harm to others.

My aim in this article is to talk specifically about hundreds of thousands of young undocumented people who were brought to this country as children in hopes of a better, safer life and whose futures are currently being held hostage by Congress, political maneuvering, and the Trump Administration. They have been through extraordinary trauma already in their lives and they deserve justice and a chance to heal and have futures in this country that they call home. I hope you will hear their cries for help.

Wouldn’t you do whatever it takes to bring your own children to safety if their lives were at risk?

As you may know, the Trump administration has ended the program known as DACA (Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals) that gave hundreds of thousands of these children across the United States, including 22,000 here in New Jersey, a chance to go to school, to get jobs and driver's licenses, and to be free to pursue their dreams in safety and peace. As long as the children followed the rules and stayed out of trouble, they were protected for short, renewable terms from deportation. They did follow the rules and now they risk deportation anyway. This is not justice, and this is not American.

While DACA was never perfect, it was much better than sending these children back to certain suffering and possible death in the countries they had fled. And it was better than leaving them in the shadows of U.S. cities, unable to live normal lives out of fear of detainment and deportation, which is still the situation for so many other vulnerable people.

The majority of Americans are in favor of programs like DACA, understanding that not only did it protect innocent young people, it contributed to safer communities and a stronger economy here.

It is our task now to ensure that Congress passes a clean Dream Act to replace the DACA program. The Dream Act is a bipartisan measure that has been introduced many times since 2001, but continues to fail for various reasons, including the aforementioned immigration myths and disinformation but also because of add-ons and comprehensive immigration reform demands that members of Congress can't agree on. This time, the legislation must be stand-alone, which means that it should go through without any additions or negotiations or backroom deals on other items. There should be a vote, as soon as possible, on the Dream Act alone, so that we can end this nightmare once and for all.

What is the Dream Act?

A bipartisan bill designed to offer a pathway to citizenship for people who were brought to this country without documentation when they were children. The current proposal was introduced by Senators Lindsey Graham (R-SC), Dick Durbin (D-IL), Jeff Flake (R-AZ), and Chuck Schumer (D-NY) in July of 2017. Ending DACA alone isn’t going to force people to “get in line” since no line currently exists. We have to create one.

What does it require?

This is not amnesty; it is a conditional immigration status with specific requirements that must be met along the pathway to citizenship. Among other things, recipients must earn a high school diploma or GED or be enrolled in higher education and earn a Bachelor’s or Associate/vocational degree, or be employed for three years, or serve in the U.S. Armed Forces for two years and they must have not have been convicted of certain criminal offenses.

Who is eligible?

People who arrived here before the age of 18 and no less than four years before enactment and who have good moral character. This is a limited pool of an estimated 1.5 to 2 million eligible people and will not be open to new arrivals.

Economy

Most economists have made it clear that DACA was a benefit to the U.S. economy, not a burden. In New Jersey, losing DACA and not replacing it with the Dream Act could cost us an estimated $1.6 billion in annual GDP according to New Jersey Policy Perspective. (If you and I can't afford to make up that difference, it's going to cost us jobs and services and make it that much more difficult to fix this state’s economic woes.) The Cato Institute says that, nationally, "deporting 700,000 DREAMers will diminish future tax revenue by $158 billion". There are no known major adverse impacts from DACA on the employment levels of American citizens.

Crime

To be eligible for DACA or the Dream Act, recipients must not have been convicted of certain criminal offenses and they must pass a background check. Keeping these young people in our communities does not increase crime. In fact, welcomed and secure families are less likely to have members that commit crimes, and they are more likely to report crimes that do happen, which makes neighborhoods more safe, not less. Numerous studies have found that immigrants in general do not commit crimes at a higher rate than non-immigrants; cities and neighborhoods with greater concentrations of immigrants actually tend to show lower rates of crime and violence than comparable non-immigrant communities. Immigrants want the same things the rest of us do: to be safe and to take care of their families.

Morality

Some 70-80% of Americans, of all political leanings, are in favor of passing the Dream Act. We know that there is nothing good or right about attacking children who fled dangerous situations in order to try to live peaceful and successful lives in a country such as ours that has always claimed to be welcoming to folks in need. Many of the eligible young people have been here since they were very young and have gone on to college and perhaps even graduated and gotten jobs. They are buying cars and houses and contributing to their communities and local businesses. They might not even speak the language of the land where they were born, or know anything about the customs or government there. They might not have a place to live or any opportunities for their futures. It is flat-out wrong to pick someone up from the only home they've ever known and send them away to a place they don’t know. Dreamers grew up here; they are Americans in every way except on paper.

Our Declaration of Independence says: "We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain inalienable rights, that among these are life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness." Note that the founding fathers did not see this as "all Americans", but all people, wherever they were from, for the simple fact of being human. This is a much better view of people than the dangerous “us versus them” view that helps no one but hurts all of us.

Call to Action

The Dream Act is at risk of failing once again, because of demands to add items like more funding for border security and more changes to the general immigration system. This is the same trap that keeps leading to situations where nothing is really resolved. Let’s limit the vote to its intended substance and deal with the other issues separately. Let’s make sure that the Dream Act is kept clean.

A great way to influence Congress is with the power of a hand-written letter. Knowing that you've taken the time to write a letter shows that the subject is something you care about strongly, and so I have been collecting as many letters from supporters in New Jersey as I can, to deliver to each Congressperson. There is a local Jefferson Township event coming up soon where you can participate in this, and learn more. All are welcome. Please join us, or please consider taking your own action to ask your Congressperson to do the right thing and protect the American dream and our American Dreamers.

Monday, November 6 at 7:15 PM - 8:15 PM

Jefferson Township Public Library

1031 Weldon Rd. Oak Ridge, NJ 07438

RSVP at https://www.facebook.com/events/563139200683996

Hosted by the Green Party of Morris, Sussex, and Warren Counties but this non-partisan action is open to all.

Please note that the Jefferson Township Public Library is not a sponsor of this meeting or affiliated in any way with this group.