Students from University of Texas campus at Austin, UT Dallas, and UT Pan Am are joining a hunger strike in hopes of influencing Texas Republican Sen. Kay Bailey Hutchinson to vote for the DREAM Act.
Approximately 40 students are hoping to gain attention in support of the 10-year-old DREAM Act, which enables students to get their degrees regardless of immigration status as part of the immigration reform movement.
The DREAM Act (Development, Relief and Education for Alien Minors) would provide conditional citizenship for six years to immigrants who are 35 years and younger who came into the before they were 16 years old. Additionally, they must have lived in the United States for five years and have a high school degree. The DREAM Act will allow undocumented youths who meet this requirement to attend college and join the military.
The DREAM Act did not pass in the Senate in September, receiving a vote of 56 to 43, a result of the Republic filibuster of the defense authorization bill. However, Congress has a chance to talk over the bill this week before the new Congress arrives.
Many people are rallying and students are banning together on hunger strikes as a last ditch effort to pressure the powers that be to make the DREAM Act a reality. Up on the block for discussion is also the “Don’t Ask Don’t Tell” bill. Supporters from the DREAM Act and those looking to have Don’t Ask Don’t Tell repealed are now working together.
Support for the DREAM Act is coming from various people and organizations, including the National School Board Association (NSBA), the National Jewish Committee, women and moms from the Legal Momentum and MomsRising, and faculty and students from several universities all over the United States.
Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid – who won his seat in Nevada mostly through Latino voters – had promised to bring the DREAM Act to the floor after Thanksgiving. Sen. Kay Bailey Hutchison, who voted for the earlier version of the bill, publicly announced that she currently opposes it.
A. Banerjee is a Houston immigration lawyer in Texas. Before selecting an immigration lawyer in Houston Texas, contact the Law Offices of Annie Banerjee by visiting their information filled web site at http://www.visatous.com.
