Eric Balderas ‘13, who was first detained by TSA going from San Antonio back to Harvard last Monday, is no longer facing deportation to Mexico! Balderas came to the US at the age of 4 with his mother. He is a rising sophomore in Eliot House and would like to study Molecular Cellular Biology – he had been on his return flight for his summer science internship. His attorneys, and apparently some big-name politicians (Sens. Durbin and Kerry, Rep. Capuano), managed to get the Department of Homeland Security to defer action
How touchy is immigration in an election year? John McCain used to support a path to citizenship. Now he’s fighting for his seat, and has supported pretty much every measure aimed at reducing the number of illegal immigrants, path to citizenship aside.
The DREAM (Development, Relief and Education for Alien Minors) Act, however, has always seemed like a good idea to me. It’s not saying that every undocumented immigrant can stay in the US, but it’s saying that those who have proven that they are and can continue to be productive members of this country, and that they will be given the proper rights and benefits.
Under the DREAM Act, undocumented youth would have a six-year conditional path to citizenship after completing two years of either 1) higher education toward a degree or 2) military service. These aren’t kids who are in drug dealers or gang members or criminals. They’re helping our economy, our defense, our intellectual abilities and technological innovations.
There will of course be opponents, those who think that allowing any undocumented immigrant to stay for any reason is a travesty. But the DREAM Act is a step in the right direction – you can’t stem the tide of immigrants, with fences or more deportations or even quotas, so we might as well welcome those who have the credentials to become great citizens.