Where I Stand — Mike O’Callaghan: More DREAM support

Friday, Feb. 27, 2004 | 8:54 a.m.

EVERY NOW AND THEN somebody comes down the road of life and recognizes the core of a social problem. Too often people in public life get so involved with correcting legal structures and looking at the big picture they overlook the damage being done to little voiceless groups that suffer in silence. Oftentimes these groups are made up of children, elderly folks or the handicapped.

Today it appears that the problems of illegal immigrants have captured the attention of politicians and other decision-makers. Most have completely missed what some of us consider of major importance. I'm referring to the children who have been brought into the United States illegally and have been raised as part of our society and culture. They are, for all reasonable purposes, American citizens. Thousands of them have succeeded in our schools and now serve honorably in the uniform of our military services.

Two years ago this column told the story and heartbreak of one fine young lady as follows: "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 JROTC. 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 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."

Last year the Development, Relief and Education for Alien Minors Act, also called the DREAM Act, was passed by the Senate Judiciary Committee. It passed with support from both major political parties and there is no good reason it shouldn't hit the president's desk for signature this year.

DREAM has provisions to:

Last week Chester E. Finn Jr., a senior fellow at the conservative Hoover Institution at Stanford University, wrote in the Los Angeles Times about his friend "Alex." Let Finn tell us about his friend: "He was a babe in arms two decades ago when his teenage parents slipped into California in search of a better life. He grew up in tough Los Angeles neighborhoods, attended troubled schools and has never been back to Central America.

"Yes, his parents messed up. His abusive father said they would eventually return to Guatemala. Now he's dead. Mom has acquired a 'green card,' which allows her legal residency. But that doesn't help Alex, who is now an adult and not covered under his mother's status ...

"He's been a surrogate father for his siblings. He's found a way to work in low-wage jobs in nursing homes, where he entertains residents with games, poems and cheerful company.

"Despite a rough time at the hands of the Los Angeles Unified School District -- a few caring teachers amid the heedlessness and red tape of troubled urban schools -- Alex earned his GED and is close to winning a regular high school diploma while also supporting a wife and baby. He'd be fine college material. But he can't go without financial aid, which he can't get without papers -- ditto a driver's license, health insurance, better job, etc."

Finn comes to the same conclusion that I have about the DREAM Act. Its final passage will be justice for some of our finest young people. The act will also be good for a stronger and more productive United States. The DREAM Act is good for all of us.