Where I Stand — Mike O’Callaghan: A homeland security law

Tuesday, Oct. 1, 2002 | 8:29 a.m.

DID YOU EVER HEAR OF THE DREAM ACT now in the United States Senate? It's S.1291 and its acronym, DREAM, comes from the bill's title: Development, Relief and Education for Alien Minors. The bill is designed to correct many problems and remove roadblocks that have been unfair to thousands of students and detrimental to the best interests of our nation.

S.1291, along with S.121, which establishes an Office of Children's Services within the Department of Justice to coordinate and implement government actions involving an unaccompanied alien, and S.672, for further protection of alien children, shouldn't be placed on a back burner. These proposed laws are every bit as important as discussions about war and security. They certainly should be considered vital to our national security and the internal strength of our country that only education and justice can provide. This is true homeland security.

Regular readers of this column can probably recall my concern about the Valley High School senior who had earned an ROTC scholarship at Washington State University but was denied attending because she doesn't have a green card.

Let's recall the situation with a few short paragraphs:

"Maya, 17, came to the United States with her parents at age five. She knows no other country and is an American. She is American enough to be a command sergeant major in Valley's Army ROTC. She has qualified for an ROTC scholarship at Washington State University but they told her she's not eligible because of her status as an undocumented immigrant. ...

"So why don't her parents and Maya apply for citizenship after being here 12 years? They did, but were among the unlucky thousands of local immigrants who were defrauded by scam artists. I have been told that because of a lawsuit these unfortunate people are held in a legal limbo.

"Here we have a young lady with a mind and the training to become a valuable contributor to our society. I'd say it's about time the barriers blocking her participation be torn down for the good of our country."

So what will the DREAM Act provide?

Maya and thousands like her can have their dreams come true with the passage of S.1291. Our nation can use their willingness to work and succeed along with their mental gifts that have carried them this far up a steep ladder. Maya wants to take one step further to serve our country in the military. The ability to do so has already been demonstrated as a Junior ROTC leader at Valley High School.

Evidently I'm not the only American who sees the value of the DREAM Act. Fifteen cosponsors in the Senate, including Nevada's Sen. Harry Reid, have their names on S.1291. They are a mix of leading Republicans and Democrats who understand fairness and the value this law will have for our entire nation.

Now is the time to pass the DREAM Act, and related bills, out of Congress. Let's not repeat the bad habit of promising dreams and then turning them back into nightmares, that have too long haunted innocent victims.