DREAM Act for Legal Immigrant Children

DREAM Act for Legal Immigrant Children

For those who follow immigration news, you may be aware that the following Senators, Senator Dick Durbin (D-IL) and Richard Lugar (R-IN) and U.S. Representatives Howard Berman (D-CA) and Lincoln Diaz-Balart (R-FL) introduced a bill in Congress Call DREAM Act.

The bill in its current form gives Illegal immigrant children a path towards permanent residency and eventually, US Citizenship. On the other hand children of Legal immigrants have been excluded from the DREAM Act. Essentially, limiting the "Dream" only to illegal immigrants, and excluding legal immigrant children.

The DREAM Act allows certain children of Illegal Immigrants who have come here before the age of 16 a path to permanent residency legal citizenship. Yet a child of Legal Immigrant who has come to US at the age of 12, finished his schooling in US, has no such clear path to Permanent Residency, as is being offered to Illegal Immigrants.

What gets me is Why discriminate against Legal Immigrant children? Why give Illegal immigrant children preference over Legal Immigrant children who have also done their high school in US, grew up in US, and know nothing of their birth country? Shouldn't Legal Immigrant children also enjoy the path to permanent residency that Illegals are being offered with the DREAM ACT?

As I have said, I don't want to deprive children of Illegal Immigrant Children of their future, but why deprive Legal Children their future as well? Is it a mistake to come to US legally, and be deprived of a path to permanent residency, while an Illegal Immigrant children gets a "Green Card" or Permanent Residency before a child of a Legal Immigrant does.

This problem specifically applies to children of Legal Immigrants, who reach the age of 21 before they can get their "Green Cards", and are forced to go back to their home country even though their parents have permanent residency in US, all in while Illegal children with Illegal Parents get ahead in patch to Permanent Residency. I know of quite of these cases, and which is why it has affected me personally.

All in all, what I am asking is that Children of Legal Immigrants should be covered under DREAM Act as well!