D.R.E.A.M. Act morphs into dreamy amnesty

Illegal’s impossible to verify claims set stage for nightmare rather than dream

Once upon a time — in 2001 — we first heard of something known as the D.R.E.A.M. Act. The acronym stood for Development, Relief, and Education for Alien Minors. It was introduced as S.1291. The 2002 bill was drafted before the speech police ruled the words “illegal” and “alien” unacceptable, so they were used extensively throughout the bill.

The D.R.E.A.M. Act was a liberal dream come true, a warm and fuzzy piece of legislation lacking any means of verification while permanently swelling the ranks of the Democrat Party.

Those applying for the gift of U.S. citizenship need only affirm they were 16 years of age or younger when they initially entered the United States and are currently 35 years of age or younger. They have to declare that they have been persons of good moral character since initially being brought to the U.S. as children by their parents — illegally. Verifying how many came as babes in arms or ably propelled themselves over the border last year at age 34 is impossible to substantiate.

Along the way those hoping to access the overly generous provisions of the D.R.E.A.M. Act, simply became known by the sympathy provoking term, “Dreamers.” They are no longer “alien minors,” but merely those requiring compassion. There are consequences to this massive scale manipulation and the victims are not the illegals, but our own American citizen children.

The so-called “Dreamers” represent a dual assault on law-abiding, taxpaying American citizens and legal immigrants, since public universities grant illegals in-state tuition. American parents who send their children to out-of-state colleges have to pay higher tuition than illegals.

Most importantly, this scam results in illegals taking the limited number of spaces available for students at public universities, crowding out deserving American students and eventually competing with them in the job market.

Any illegal who claims they entered the U.S. before they were 16 years old and have lived here for at least five years can gain legal residence and ultimately citizenship merely by graduating high school, attending two years of college or entering the military. But even those requirements can be waived if they would cause “hardship.”

The biggest winners of this reckless lunacy will be the millions of illegals whose status is legitimized, and universities striving to enhance their numbers of Hispanic undergrads to 25 percent in order to qualify for a $1 billion fund set up by the Department of Education for “Hispanic Serving Institutions.” Over a dozen Arizona schools are on the notorious list.

President-elect Donald Trump has stated he will terminate DACA, (Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals), an executive action signed into law by Obama in 2012. It provides an exemption from deportation and a renewable two-year work permit. 

Let’s be clear. Dreamers are dreaming of one thing: Stealth Amnesty. They are being aided and abetted by the Arizona Board of Regents and the Phoenix Union High School District, funded by citizen’s tax dollars while creating impediments to our own kids.