Conservatives for the DREAM Act: The Need for Qualified Readiness and Labor
Conservatives for the DREAM Act: The Need for Qualified Readiness and Labor
What is the DREAM Act?
The Development, Relief and Education for Alien Minors (DREAM) Act was first introduced in 2001 by Republican Sen. Orrin Hatch of Utah and it had broad bipartisan support.
The DREAM Act gives people who were children under 16 when they entered the United States the opportunity to become legal residents if they meet all of the following criteria:
- Have a high school degree or GED.
- Have lived in the United States for at least five years, and are younger than 35.
- Have good moral character.
- Must have five years of continuous presence in the United States.
If the criteria are met, then people will be eligible for conditional legal status for six years if during this period of time they graduate from two years of college or honorably serve two or more years in the military. The benefits of the DREAM Act are that more people will be bettering themselves through higher learning.
Benefits to the Department of Defense
The Pentagon has been pushing for the DREAM Act, and military experts agree that this would enlarge dramatically the pool of highly qualified recruits for the United States Armed Forces. The Department of Defense has expressed support for the DREAM Act since the Bush administration. In recent years, the Army has been forced to accept more applicants who are high school dropouts, have low scores on ASVAB, and have criminal backgrounds. However, the DREAM Act would allow recruiters to seek highly qualified high school students with no criminal background.
As the world continues to become more dangerous with promises from North Korea and Iran who wish to increase their nuclear arsenals, the United States Armed Forces should replenish their staff with better qualified recruits in an effort to have a strong military readiness. We should have as a very high goal to surpass all Department of Defense and military goals as it relates to recruitment and the quality of those recruits.
DREAM is the Best Path to American Assimilation
Samuel Huntington wrote, “[W]ars have furthered assimilation of immigrants not only by reducing their numbers but also by giving them the opportunity and the impetus to demonstrate their loyalty to America. Readiness to fight and if necessary die in war cemented their attachment to their new home and made it difficult if not impossible for nativist, anti-immigrant groups to oppose their full membership in American society.”
Benefits to Our Economy and Tax Burdens Shared
The DREAM Act legislation would encourage a younger group of people that would maintain our labor market needs, as well as help increase the small business ownership that immigrants often bring to our economy. Because higher education is a prerequisite, this group would support themselves in the labor market and avoid a growing dependence on government. We support measures that promote individual responsibility, not government entitlements.
Tax burdens will be shared with the people affected by the DREAM Act, and revenues would increase the tax base for state, federal, and local governments. According to the US Department of Commerce / Economics and Statistics Administration of the US Census Bureau, earnings increase with educational level ‒ and taxes increase when earnings increase. For instance, a single person who graduates with a Bachelor’s degree should make an average annual salary of $60,000.00 which is taxed at approximately $11,194.00 every year (2009 IRS Tax Rate Schedule).
The DREAM Act is Not Amnesty and Does Not Use Taxpayer Dollars
The DREAM Act provides an opportunity for the undocumented immigrant youth to prove themselves worthy to become legal residents and eventually Americans. The DREAM Act is not amnesty because it is earned citizenship that is based upon conditions: maintaining good moral standing combined with hard work.
A common misunderstanding is that the DREAM Act uses taxpayer dollars to fund or provide special tuition preferences to the undocumented. The DREAM Act would repeal a 1996 federal law that, in some cases, restricts undocumented people the access to instate tuition reimbursement. In other words, the DREAM Act empowers states to make their own decisions, it does not afford undocumented students special benefits, and we do not support entitlements.
There are multiple studies that point to how parents of DREAM Act students contribute to our overall economy. For instance, a 2007 study by University of Arizona’s Udall Center for Studies in Public Policy found that “the total state tax revenue attributable to immigrant workers was an estimated $2.4 billion (about $860 million for naturalized citizens plus about $1.5 billion for non-citizens). Balanced against incremental fiscal costs of $1.4 billion for education, health care, and law enforcement, immigrants in Arizona generated a net 2004 fiscal contribution of about $940 million toward services such as public safety, libraries, road maintenance, and other areas.” Economist William Ford told the Associated Press that a majority of economists agree that illegal immigrants are a net benefit for the U.S. economy. He calculates that illegal immigrants contributed $428 billion dollars to the nation’s $13.6 trillion gross domestic product in 2006.
The DREAM Act is Compassionate Conservatism
Children should not be punished for the “sins of their fathers.” Some people brought into the country illegally by their caretakers as young children have no idea they are not citizens until later on in life, because they were raised as Americans. Their loyalties are to the United States of America; they speak English well and have assimilated into American culture. Many hardly speak their parents’ language of origin and would not know how to function outside of the USA. This bill would prevent young people in this position who want to get higher education or serve the United States from being deported after receiving an American education.
Conclusion
Despite what opponents to the DREAM Act say, benefits would include better military qualified readiness, furthered assimilation by immigrants that demonstrates their loyalty to America, shared tax burdens and increased revenues to the tax base for state, federal, and local governments, and our labor market needs will be maintained especially with the baby boomers retiring.
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