On Wednesday May 11, 2011, Senators Harry Reid (D-Nev.) and Dick Durbin (D-III) reintroduced the DREAM Act - which would provide an earned path to legal status for undocumented minors who came to this country before they were 16 - on the floor of the U.S. Congress. A day before that Tuesday, President Obama spoke in El Paso, Texas outlining his vision for immigration reform.
Both events recognize the important contributions immigrants make to our nation’s economic and social well-being. For instance, Muslim Americans, who are two-thirds of immigrant origin, have a purchasing power that adds more than $170 billion to our economy per year. They are doctors, lawyers, students, military officers and business entrepreneurs.
Many Muslim Americans are also young students, and many happen to be undocumented. In late November last year, when MPAC and a group of interfaith leaders announced their support for the DREAM Act, a recent college graduate named Alaa Mukahhal spoke of her story.
Alaa had recently graduated from a Chicago-area college with a degree in architecture. However she was unable to find a job and contribute her skills to our economy because she lacked legal status. Also there is Dan-el Padilla Peralta. He's the model DREAMer student -- graduated from Princeton as a salutatorian and was held back from attending Oxford because of his undocumented status.
Of course, a just and sustainable solution to our nation’s immigration challenges require more than the DREAM Act. Looking for a “silver bullet” solution, like increasing the number of deportations, will not work. Our nation cannot arrest and deport its way of out this problem; the challenge is simply too complex.
That's why we at MPAC believe real immigration reform requires not only securing the borders, but also a serious overhaul of our legal immigration system and providing an earned path to legal status.
If Alaa Mukahhal and the other 2.1 million other students in her situation have an opportunity to work toward their legal status (and eventual citizenship), organizations like the University of California Los Angeles estimate DREAM students will contribute $3.6 trillion to our nation over 40 years.
If that same path were expanded to the overwhelming majority of the 11 million, law-abiding and undocumented immigrants, theImmigration Policy Center estimates our nation stands to gain $1.5 trillion in just 10 years.
Yet, our elected officials have failed to pass any legislation seeking meaningful reform. We, as an American faith community must continue to push our members of Congress to achieve a just and effective immigration solution.
At the end of the day, let us also remember that immigration is an issue affecting us beyond our pocketbooks and our nation’s borders. It’s very real issue that affects our communities. Seeking a serious and comprehensive immigration solution is a moral issue that affects us as Americans and people of faith.
[CONTACT: Haris Tarin, DC Office Director,, haris@mpac.org]
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