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By Felicia Persaud & Annan Boodram |
New York, August 2003: Dream Act Restricts Immigrants' Access to Education: Come September, many immigrant teenagers' dreams of going on to college and obtaining a better education may evolve into a nightmare. So says Irwine Clare, director of the Queens-based Caribbean Immigrant Services.
The Jamaican-born immigrant advocate says many Caribbean-born students who are living throughout the United States in an undocumented capacity may not be able to take up scholarship opportunities or pursue a college education because federal immigration laws prohibits the students from taking advantage of in-state rates. Many immigrant parents cannot afford the high rate of international tuition and so many high school students soon see their dreams of a college education evaporate. About 65,000 nationally are affected,
Thanks to New York's adoption of the DREAM Act Part 1 - or the Development, Relief and Education for Alien Minors Act undocumented students in the city can benefit from instate-tuition rates. Still they face other stipulations to qualifying for the rate, including providing proof that they are in the process of adjusting their status as well as show that they have spent a minimum of two years attending high school in the state.
Now the DREAM Act Part II, which was introduced by Senator Orin Hatch and is currently before the Senate, hopes to eliminate those stipulations and grants green cards to high school students who are undocumented and who are moving on to college. It deletes a federal provision that interferes with a state's right to determine which students qualify as "residents" for purposes of in-state tuition or other state education benefits; and by providing a mechanism for certain long-term resident immigrant students with good moral character to apply for legal residency so that they can work and otherwise fully participate in their communities.
As the law sums it up "the young people at issue did not have a say in the decision to come to the U.S., and it is wrong to hold them fully liable for an immigration status that was derived from their parents. They should not be legally precluded from the achievements that they are able to earn by their own talent and hard work in the land where they were raised."
Clare is adamant that this is the way forward. He has been vigorously advocating in Caribbean American communities nationally for support of this bill as well as the U.S. House version, called the Student Adjustment Act. He says though the legislation has obtained bi-partisan support, advocates like him face an uphill task.
But the bills have their strong critics. The Federation for Immigration Reform (FAIR), an anti-immigrant group, says the proposed legislation "takes college seats away from law-abiding U.S. citizens and legal immigrants, goes against current federal law which bars granting in-state tuition to illegal aliens without also providing in-state tuition for non-resident U.S. citizens and legal permanent residents." It explains that, "American citizens and legal immigrants would have to pay higher out-of-state tuition rates if they are not residents of the state in which they attend a state institution of higher education."
And they add that it, "sends a message to the rest of the world that anyone who can get to the U.S. illegally can get a cut rate college education for their children, thereby encouraging more people to enter illegally [and] is a slap in the face to those who play by the rules, waiting in line to immigrate legally."
Still, the National Immigration Law Center says, "These young people deserve a fresh start, both in fairness to them and in our national interest."
Adds, NILC, "The DREAM Act would dramatically reduce dropout rates, with resulting substantial savings in criminal justice costs and use of public benefits, and it would sharply increase the amount of taxes paid by those who qualify These young people deserve to be rewarded for doing the right thing, not punished."
Concerns About Patriot Act: Meanwhile Caribbeans in the United States are expressing growing concern that the Patriot Act which gives the police and immigration department sweeping powers, could see more of them being deported without the benefit of judicial hearing.
The concerns have heightened with another version of the Act being proposed.
Lawyers charge that under the Act, American police have been given greater authority to invade the privacy of people living in the U.S. They no longer need evidence to get a warrant and they can detain people indefinitely without charge. But with the proposed part two of the Act, persons who are naturalized Americans, could be stripped of their citizenship if they are considered a threat to the U.S. in any shape or form.
"This could strip citizenship from naturalized citizens," said Dhalia Walker, a Jamaican-born immigration attorney based in South Florida, who was addressing the gathering of a wide cross-section of Jamaican migrants at the forum.
As early as January next year, migrants entering the U.S. will have their mug shots and fingerprints taken. The new laws will take effect in Miami, one of the main ports of entry into the United States.
Jack Wallace of the Florida Immigration Center, in Miami, pointed to the fact that the Patriotic Act had resulted in more people being deported as the security force has been given greater authority to invade the privacy of people living in the United States. He said statistics show that from 1992 the number of immigrants who are in INS custody increased from 5,000 to 20,000 this year.
And Alan Scheib of the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) said the Patriot Act had seriously weakened the constitutional structure.
"Before, citizens would be protected from unlawful intrusion whereby the police had to go before the court with evidence before they could get a warrant. Now they can just get a warrant."
Two other main points of concern, he said, were that people can now be detained indefinitely without charges brought and secondly that the Government has access to almost all private records.
"The Government can now go to any public library to get information on what books you read there and what Internet you used," he said.
Additionally, recent changes in immigration laws as they relate to an affidavit of support has seen more and more people declining to sponsor relatives to the United States.
Persons wishing to live or study in the United States need to get an affidavit of support from another U.S. resident or citizenship reflecting the ability to take care of the U.S. immigrant financially until, if and when they become a citizen.
With the new immigration laws in place, persons providing such a document could very well find themselves being sued in a court of law if they refuse for any reason to take on that financial burden.
Roadblock to Bill Against Immigration Scammers: And in yet another setback for immigrants, a bill designed to help put unscrupulous "immigration advisers" out of business came in New York State has hit roadblock. After being passed by the Democratic-controlled New York State Assembly, it languished in the State Senate. And when the legislative session ended recently, the upper chamber hadn't acted on it, almost guaranteeing it would die this year unless it could be resurrected during a special session of the assembly and the Senate.
"What happened was very unfortunate," said Nick Perry, a West Indian who sits in the State Assembly, representing a large Caribbean immigrant community in Brooklyn. "We have had many constituents coming into our district office complaining about immigration consultants or advisers and how they were cheated out of their money. I supported the measure in the assembly but the Republican leadership in the Senate didn't act on it."
Access Without Fear: Meanwhile on July 28 leaders from civic, religious, labor and community groups throughout New York City joined together to endorse Intro 326, a proposed legislation called "Access Without Fear".
"Access Without Fear" would establish a broad confidentiality policy for non-citizens living in New York City. If passed, this legislation would prevent a city official from disclosing any information he had gathered about an immigrant's status. Intro 326 also forbids the city from releasing other information pertaining to an individual's health status, income tax record, sexual orientation or other data that might discourage people from using public services. "Access Without Fear" comes in response to Mayor Bloomberg's Executive Order 34 issued earlier this year which reinforced the broad powers of the police and security forces.
Intro 326's prime sponsor and author Councilman Monserate encourages immigrants to use crucial city services. Immigrants often fail to report crimes or use emergency healthcare services because they are afraid of being reported to the Federal authorities. The legislation will alleviate the fear that city officials will release information about a non-citizen's immigration status. "New Yorkers understand that if residents feel they cannot access city services, everyone's quality of life is diminished," stated Monserate.
Freedom Ride: Meanwhile momentum is gathering for the Freedom Ride scheduled to end in New York City on October fourth. Planned to focus on immigration issues this ride will see activists arrive from Seattle, San Francisco, Los Angeles, Houston, Minneapolis, Chicago, Miami and Boston and converge at Flushing Meadows, Queens, for a what is expected to be a huge rally. The Freedom Ride will focus essentially on three platforms: Legalization and "a road to citizenship" for all immigrant workers; The right of immigrant workers to reunite their families and Protecting the rights of immigrants in the workplace.
The New York end of the ride is being coordinated by a broad range of entities and activists headed by the New York City Central Labor Council.