DREAM Act

The Development, Relief, and Education for Alien Minors (DREAM) Act (S. 2075) is a United States bill that would provide a two step path to full citizenship to illegal aliens. There act was first introduced in 2003 and then reintroduced in 2005 by Democrat Senator Richard Durbin and Republican Senator's Chuck Hegel and Richard Luger. The bill would specifically deal with an estimated 65,000 undocumented students which graduated from United States high schools each year.

Qualifications of Act

Only illegal aliens that fill all of the the following criteria are able to receive benefits from the DREAM Act:

1. have lived in the United States for at least 5 years and were under the age of 16 at the time of entry;
2. have graduated from high school or have been accepted to a college or institution of higher education;
3. have good moral character;
4. are not deportable on account of a criminal conviction, alien smuggling or document fraud.

Qualifications for Citizenship

Illegal aliens which fit the qualifications must do one of the following to obtain permanent citizenship:

1. obtain a diploma from a junior college or trade school;
2. complete at least two years of a bachelor's or graduate program;
3. join the Armed Forces and if discharged, be honorably discharged; or
4. perform part or full time volunteer community service under the direction of the USA Freedom Corps or with an entity eligible to receive funds from the Combined Federal Campaign.
5. or demonstrate both a compelling reason why they cannot meet the requirements, and exceptional and extremely unusual hardship if they were removed from the United States.

See also

• Closed Convention
• Eighth Circuit
• Agency

External Links

• Full text of the 2005 DREAM Act