A group of undocumented college students gathered at the State Capitol on Thursday to tell Arizona Sen. Russell Pearce they are not criminals and to ask him to support them in their efforts to obtain legal citizenship.
Members of the Arizona DREAM Act Coalition, dressed in graduation caps and gowns, said they were hoping to send their message directly to Pearce, but his office told them they were not allowed to come in.
“We might not change (Pearce’s) mind, but (we) hope to change his supporters’ minds,” said Israel Araujo, the president of ADAC. “In the long run (Pearce) might lose his popularity.”
In 2006 Pearce sponsored Proposition 300, a referendum supported by Arizonans that increased tuition rates for undocumented students and denied them any state-funded tuition aid.
The DREAM Act would create a path to citizenship for undocumented students who immigrated before they were 16, are under 35, have been in the country for five consecutive years and have graduated from high school. They would also have to attend college or enroll in the military.
Evelin Rodriguez, a business senior, is graduating in May, but her plans after graduation are still uncertain because of her legal status, she said.
“Reality is hitting me that I won’t have a job,” she said. “I try not to think about it, I’m just focusing on school right now.”
Regardless of whether she obtains a college degree, Rodriguez said she anticipates having difficulty finding work in the professional field without proper documents.
In the past she has kept her undocumented status secret, but with her parents’ support she announced it publicly to promote the DREAM Act, she said.
Over 1.2 million undocumented students across the nation could be eligible for the DREAM Act, according to a report by the Migration Policy Institute, a Washington, D.C. think tank. Out of the millions of students nationwide, an estimated 114,000 undocumented students would benefit in Arizona.
Sen. Harry Reid, D-Nev., has promised to bring the legislation as a stand-alone bill during the lame-duck session, which started Monday.
Also, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi has set a tentative date of Nov. 29 to vote for the DREAM Act.
President Barack Obama has also supported the bill and is hoping to sign the DREAM Act into law.
Dulce Matuz, policy adviser for the coalition and a 2009 ASU graduate in electrical engineering, hopes to get Republican support for the DREAM Act, she said.
“We’re inviting conservatives that already support us to speak out,” Matuz said.
Both Republicans and Democrats in Congress introduced the DREAM Act in 2001, but in September Reid introduced a military-budget bill with a provision to end the “don’t ask, don’t tell” policy, which denies gays to openly serve in the military, to which Reid added the DREAM Act as an amendment. All Republicans at the time voted against a debate on the bill.
Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz., has supported the DREAM Act in the past, but shied away last September because he did not agree with the “don’t ask, don’t tell” amendment.
McCain also felt he should address border issues before supporting any type of immigration reform.
“I recognize that the young people who would be covered under the DREAM Act entered our country as children and the decision to illegally enter was not theirs,” he said in a statement. “I also know that the majority of the Arizonans that I have heard from want us to secure the border before considering immigration legislation.”
Contact the reporter at uriel.garcia@asu.edu
