The Common Sense of DREAMing

One of my earliest childhood friends is a Mexican immigrant who was brought into this country at the age of two. We attended kindergarten together and shared various classes together throughout our entire educational career. I did not know that she was considered “illegal” until I was in high school.

I hate to use the word “illegal” because it implies that my friend is a criminal and she is not a criminal. It is easy to argue that her parents are criminal as they crossed into this country illegally, carrying with them my friend and her older sister, yet the idea that these two young children were responsible for their illegal entry into this country is absolutely ridiculous.

Had the family been detained and subject to deportation immediately following their illegal entry into this country, I would not find any reason not to deport them all. But that was not the case. I grew up with her right here in America, which for all intents and purposes is the only home that she has ever known.

Although she is fluent in spoken Spanish, she is barely able to read it and not able to write it well at all. This was something that I learned after I pestered her frequently to help me with my Spanish homework. Finally one day she said,

“I don’t know how to help you with your homework. I was never taught how to read or write Spanish. I don’t know where to put accents and it is hard for me to read in Spanish. I don’t really know how to write in Spanish.”

I suddenly understood that my Spanish I class had already taught me more about reading and writing in Spanish than she knew growing up in a family were Spanish was always spoken, but never taught formally. She knew how to read and write in English, which made complete sense as we had shared so many English classes together over all the years that I had known her.

To add insult to injury, the school system would not allow her to take Spanish classes because she was a native speaker of the language.

How can anyone justify sending her “back” to a country that she knows so little about? She would be disadvantaged professionally and would have to assimilate to a culture that she is unfamiliar with. Yes, she knows much about her background as a Mexican, yet she knows nothing about living in Mexico.

Even her Spanish is a product of Spanish speaking Americans, meaning that many words she uses, although not recognized by English speakers would also not be recognized by Spanish speakers in Mexico who have not lived in this country where the languages have merged into what is popularly known as Spanglish.

This is why the DREAM Act is so important, which Barack Obama has supported all along; Mitt Romney would choose to through my friend into unfamiliar territory where her everyday life would immediately become more difficult for her, stunting her ability to become a productive member of society – where her years of American education would render her little benefit.

The policy changes that President Barack Obama announced yesterday from the Department of Homeland Security do not grant citizenship to my friend, they simply prevent her from being criminally prosecuted for the circumstances that she obviously had no control over. They allow her to further her education and to work hard for a future while getting her on track to obtain legal citizenship in the future. It buys her time to earn her rights as the American she has always identified herself as.

The DREAM Act is common sense and is the only fair why to handle the current immigration issues that are prevalent in this country. Score one for “common sense” and “equality” in a country that has forgotten the meaning of both of those terms.