They didn’t ask for this. They came with their parents who may have come here illegally and obviously did come here illegally, and yet they are having to pay really a higher price than what their parents have had to pay. And we need to think about the overall issue and those young people who are qualified to be educated, qualified to go into the Armed Forces, qualified to go into the workforce, and yet they’re going to have this handicap hanging over their heads.

- REPUBLICAN SENATOR CHAMBLISS (GEORGIA)

Wow, Senator Saxby Chambliss–one of the last standing pillars of Republican nativism who just won re-election on the basis of several lies–actually said that? Yes, back in 2004 (and not in a parallel universe) when the DREAM Act was being considered. At that time, Chambliss had some issues with punishing innocent kids and adolescents for crimes and alleged transgressions they had not committed. How unfortunate that he now goes around calling the DREAM Act an amnesty for ‘illegals’ and wanting us to have a permanent ‘handicap over our heads.’

Can we get that ‘handicap’ parking permit? Oh darn, we can’t drive legally either …

Mr. President, what are we talking about here? We’re talking about children. Since when, in America, do we visit the sins and crimes of parents on children? If a parent commits a crime does that mean that the child goes to prison? If a parent disqualifies himself or herself from American citizenship, does that mean the child can never have a chance? Is that what America has come to?

Amidst the confusion and distortion and vitriol of this debate on immigration, since children like Marie Gonzales. She was brought to this country from Costa Rica by her parents at the age of ten. Her parents have been deported as illegals. Because I have made a special request she has been allowed to continue to finish her college education at Westminster College in Missouri. Her goal is to be an American and to give to the only country she has ever known. Costa Rica is not her country, America’s her country.

What we are talking about is turning these children out. Children with no country. And what sin, what crime did they commit? They obeyed their parents. They followed their parents. And for some that is going to be a mark of Cain on their heads forever in America. Is that what we’re all about?

Give these kids a chance. Meet them. Take the time to see these children. Many of us have. And what you’ll see in their eyes is the same kind of hope for this country that we want to see in our own children’s eyes. To be doctors and nurses and teachers, engineers, to find cures for diseases, to start businesses, the things that make America grow.

Give these kids a chance. Don’t take your anger out on illegal immigration on children who have nothing to say about this. They were brought to this country. They’ve lived a good life. They’ve proven themselves. They’ve beaten the odds. We need them.

And then they’ll turn around and tell me tomorrow that you need H1B visas to bring in talented people to America because we don’t have enough. Don’t tell me you need H2B and H2A and all the rest of them. No, if you’re going to turn away these children. If you’re going to say, “America doesn’t need you, go about your business, find someplace in the world.” Don’t come back to me and tell me we need a bigger labor pool and more talent in America.

How can we say no to hope? How can we say no to these kids when all they want is a piece of the American Dream? Please vote to proceed to the DREAM Act. I will work with Senator Hutchinson, a bipartisan amendment, we’ll do our best and I think we can come up with something. Give these kids a chance.

Thank you Senator Durbin!

DREAMers across America

• The DREAM of U
• It has been a year - Generation 1.5

Is Nancy Pelosi trying to improve her ratings with hate groups like FAIR and NumbersUSA?

Check out an excerpt from her interview on the Charles Rose Show just this past week (Oct 16):

NANCY PELOSI: Immigration, we have to have comprehensive immigration reform. We`ve always talked about our principles: secure our borders, enforce our laws, have — Family unification has been part of our immigration law. Have that as a principle. Try to have path to legalization. I still don`t know where Senator McCain is on it. He has been back and forth. He was the author of the legislation and then he opposed it and the rest. But perhaps what we have to do is reverse it and require that everyone in our country become legal. And then say to them, if you can`t meet the test, you have to go home. Or you have — you just have –

CHARLIE ROSE: Require them to go through the process of becoming legal.

NANCYPELOSI: I`m just saying becoming citizens. I`m just saying register so that we know who you are.

CHARLIE ROSE: If you`re not willing to register and be identified, then you`ve got to go back.

NANCY PELOSI: You got to go back. We have to do something.

What was that? Surely, Nancy Pelosi is in a position to realize that undocumented migrants are not undocumented out of choice–we CANNOT become legal no matter how much we want to. Hello? What part of legal immigration don’t you understand? Those of us brought here by our parents illegally CANNOT become legal without legislation such as the DREAM Act or Comprehensive Immigration Reform.

Additionally, requiring us to go home means a 10-year ban and separation from our families–what sort of family unification plan is that?

What democratic principles is Nancy Pelosi upholding by agreeing to politically disenfranchise 12 million immigrants forever?

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Part 2

Part 3

On the cusp of adulthood, Fresno high school valedictorian Arthur Mkoyan, 17, is wrestling with choices about his future that few American high school graduates face.

Arthur graduated from Bullard High School last month with a 4.0 grade point average and a letter of admission to UC Davis, where he planned to study chemistry in autumn. But the Armenian-born teenager’s life has been in limbo since his parents’ asylum petition was rejected after a 16-year process.

In April, federal immigration authorities detained Arthur’s father, Ruben Mkoian (father and son spell their surname differently), preparing to deport him. His mother was allowed to remain free to care for Arthur and his 12-year-old, U.S.-born brother until the date of their departure.

Sen. Dianne Feinstein, D-Calif., heard about the family’s case and, on the very day of Arthur’s commencement, and just days before the family’s scheduled deportation, she introduced a private bill in the U.S. Senate that led to Mkoian’s release after two months in detention and could grant the family lawful permanent residence.

Such bills rarely pass - an estimated 3 percent are approved - but as long as the legislation is pending, the removal order remains suspended, which gives Arthur and his family a temporary reprieve that could last a couple of years.
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