The DREAM Act (acronym for Development, Relief and Education for Alien Minors) is an American legislative proposal for a multi-phase process for qualifying alien minors in the United States that would first grant conditional residency and upon meeting further qualifications, permanent residency. The bill was first introduced in the Senate on August 1, 2001, S. 1291 by United States Senators Dick Durbin and Orrin Hatch and has since been reintroduced several times but has failed to pass.
The dream act is also known as The Dream Act (acronym of Development, Relief, and Education for Alien Minids) is a bill that was first introduced by Senator Orrin Hatch (a republican senator from Utah) and Senator Dick Durbin (a democrat senator from Illinois) in August 1, 2001. It had failed to pass in Congress several times but it was reintroduced again in 2009 by Senator Harry Reid (a democrat senator from Nevada). In 2010, a bipartisan group of senators introduced a new version of the bill in the Senate again.
The main purpose of this bill is to grant young undocumented immigrants who have been brought into the US as children a pathway to US citizenship. To be eligible for this path to citizenship under this bill, these immigrants must go to college
The Dream Act is a bipartisan legislation that would provide qualified individuals who came to the U.S. as children a conditional path to permanent residency. In its various forms, the Dream Act was first introduced in 2001 and reintroduced in 2011. Congress failed to pass it, despite wide support from the public and members of both parties.
In June 2012, after almost two years of intense advocacy led by undocumented youth, President Obama announced a deportation relief program for young immigrants called Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA). DACA provides many of the benefits of the Dream Act: it allows undocumented youth to obtain work authorization and avoid deportation. As of August 2017, over 800,000 young people had received DACA protections and work permits.
The Dream Act would offer more stable relief than DACA. Although DACA grants temporary protection from deportation and work authorization, it doesn’t provide a permanent solution: DACA recipients can only renew their status every two years and there are no guarantees that future administration will continue the program or defend it in court. If Congress were to pass the Dream Act, recipients could apply for permanent residency and eventually citizenship.
Undocumented youth have been at the forefront of efforts to push Congress to pass immigration reform legislation that includes a path to citizenship for those who arrived as children
What is the Dream Act? The Dream Act is a bipartisan bill that would allow certain young people brought to the United States as children to earn lawful permanent residence and U.S. citizenship. What is DACA?
DACA refers to Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals, which is a temporary benefit that has been available since 2012 to some young people who came to the United States as children but do not have lawful immigration status in the United States. If you are eligible for DACA, U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) may grant you deferred action, which means that USCIS will not seek to remove you from the United States for a specified period of time and will consider you “authorized” to be in this country during that time—for example, so that you can get a driver’s license or work permit.
If I have DACA, can I apply for Lawful Permanent Residency or U.S. citizenship?
No, DACA does not provide lawful permanent residency or U.S. citizenship; only Congress can make those changes to immigration law. DACA only provides protection from deportation and work authorization for a limited period of time.
The Dream Act is a development that has been in Congress since 2001. It is legislation that would allow undocumented youth who have grown up and gone to school in the United States the opportunity to earn legal status by completing 2 years of college or military service. There are specific requirements for eligibility.
Why was it introduced?
In order to create a legal path for young people who were brought to this country as children, and whose prospects for continuing to live and work in the United States are limited because they are undocumented.
How many people will be eligible?
The Center for American Progress estimates that 1.4 million undocumented youth may qualify under the terms of the Dream Act, though only 65,000 would be eligible annually.
The Dream Act, or the Development, Relief and Education for Alien Minors Act, is a bipartisan legislation that was first introduced in the Senate on August 1st, 2001 by Dick Durbin (D-IL) and Orrin Hatch (R-UT). There have been many versions of the bill over the years, but the basic premise has remained constant: Provide a path to citizenship for immigrants who came to the United States as children, through no fault of their own.
The Dream Act would provide conditional permanent residency to certain undocumented youth who graduate from U.S. high schools, arrived in the United.S. as minors, and lived in the country continuously for at least five years prior to the bill’s enactment. These young people must pass security checks and either serve in the military or go to college. After six years of conditional status, they can apply for permanent residency if they have successfully completed two years in the military or two years at a four-year institution of higher learning.
To date, numerous versions of this legislation have been introduced into Congress with varying degrees of support from both sides of the aisle – but none have yet passed both Houses and been signed into law by a President.
The Dream Act is not just good policy – it is also
The Development, Relief and Education for Alien Minors (DREAM) Act was introduced in Congress in 2001 as S. 1291. The bill would allow certain long-term resident students who came to the United States as minors and meet several key criteria to temporary conditional residency and eventually qualify for permanent residency.
The Dream Act will enhance our national security by helping us identify those immigrants who have been raised in our communities, and have demonstrated ability, merit, and the willingness to give back to this country – people who are now contributing to our economy, serving in our military, and are American in every way except on paper.
It is not a surprise that nearly 70% of Americans support this legislation. In fact, polls show Americans overwhelmingly support the Dream Act because they believe that a young person who grew up here should be able to go to college or serve in the military instead of being deported without any chance of returning home.
The DREAM Act (S. 3992/H.R. 6497) is bipartisan legislation that would provide undocumented youth with a six year path to citizenship through higher education or military service.
The DREAM Act would grant legal status for six years if an undocumented youth:
Came to the U.S under age 16;
We’re a group of immigration lawyers, law students and other professionals who have come together to support DREAMers and the DREAM Act. We are working to bring awareness to what we call the “DREAM Act Generation” – those young people who are living and contributing to society in the U.S. but who lack legal immigration status.
The immigration attorneys at our firm provide free or low-cost legal assistance to help these students obtain legal immigration status through the proposed Development, Relief and Education for Alien Minors (DREAM) Act or through other means.
We are also advocates for comprehensive immigration reform and want to share information on these important issues with our readers.
The key feature of the Development, Relief and Education for Alien Minors (DREAM) Act is that it provides a path toward citizenship for undocumented immigrants who were brought to the United States as children if they complete two years of college or military service. The DREAM Act was first introduced in Congress in 2001, but has been repeatedly blocked by conservatives. This page explains how this bill could benefit undocumented youth who grew up in America and have gone on to contribute much to society despite their lack of legal status.
