It came to our attention last week that Representative Joe Baca was re-introducing a bill for immigrant high-school graduates called the PROUD Act or ‘People Resolved to Obtain an Understanding of Democracy Act’ (H.R. 2681).
We would like to thank Joe Baca for introducing this bill again as his efforts do demonstrate the support that exists for immigrant youth.
When we called his office to ask for clarification and to see how the PROUD Act related to the DREAM Act and how we could work together, Baca’s staff were unclear – “No, he has not co-sponsored Dream, no they don’t have background info on why he introduced bill…”
After studying the 1-page bill, we have to conclude that the PROUD Act is not a viable alternative to the DREAM Act. We welcome a bill that does not have a military provision, benefits young people, and pushes the DREAM Act further to the Left. But what we have here is a more restrictive measure that alienates more students than the DREAM Act and doesn’t provide the necessary protections needed.
First, the age requirements are too restrictive and arbitrary. The PROUD Act would not benefit the scores of talented and hard-working students that have been working on getting legislation benefiting immigrant youth passed for so many years.
Essentially, the bill would only benefit those ‘alien minors’ who have been here from Grade 6 to 12, completed high school with a civics curriculum, and are under the age of 25 when they file their application.
Goodbye Matias.
Goodbye Tam Tran.
Goodbye Marie Gonzalez.
Goodbye Prerna.
Josh Bernstein, Director of Immigration at SEIU, states that “fewer students would qualify under the PROUD Act because they would have to have come here at a much younger age and even if they have been here since infancy they would not qualify if through no fault of their own they reach 25 years old before the law is enacted and regulations published.â€
In comparison, the House DREAM Act bill has no age limit with the cut-off requirement for entry at around 10th-11th grade instead of 6th. A 15-year old is also a minor who is not culpable for the alleged transgressions of their parents.
Rigid age requirements aside, there are no provision for persons who get a GED instead of a high school diploma. If you dropped out of high school, you won’t be able to get a GED. Goodbye.
Additionally, unlike the DREAM Act, there is no protection against deportation for high school or junior high school students before graduation, no confidentiality provision to protect parents, no expedited processing and no repeal of federal in-state tuition restrictions.
And given that it was only re-introduced in the House with one co-sponsor, there is little-to-no chance of passage.
The DREAM Act is the result of 9 years of hard-work, compromise and battle. And it is closer to passage than ever before. Lets hope immigrant youth don’t have to wait another decade for immigration reform.
Call (202)225-6161, email and thank Joe Baca for introducing the PROUD Act and ask him to cosponsor and support the DREAM Act today.
While you are at it, here are more actions you can undertake in support of the DREAM Act.
This is bill is too restrictive and would not help many immigrants. Instead supporters of this bill should think about supporting the Dream act which carries all qualified under the proud act…
The Dream Act is already too restrictive. The PROUD ACT will exclude students from the education system even more. I don't think education for human beings should be a matter of debate anywhere in the world. It's ridiculous that thousands of students have been trying to fix and fix the argument of why students should have the opportunity to go to school. Sometimes I just don't understand it. I do understand it when I realize that for hundreds of years politians in the United States have discriminated against people of different races in order to maintain power.
I completely agree with you because education should not be a privileged it should be a right to every human being and until that happens all around the world then it I'll be a "BETTER" world but until then we will keep fighting for our right to equal opportunities..
I forgot one very important thing no one is talking about the real issue everyone is tyring to convince politians. When will have individuals who are not scare to call the issue for what it is and stop kissing ass in D.C.
I am hoping that the PROUD Act is a way that anti-military dissenters of the DREAM Act and legal immigrant kids can stop attacking the shortcomings of the DREAM Act and advocate for their own bill. It would make the most sense moving forward.
The Dream Act is not close to passing and if the US Taxpayers had a choice we would not even be paying for the illegal children s education. It is appalling to me that Obama stated in his SOTU address that it is the responsibility of US Citizens to provide an education for these children. It is actually the responsibility of the parents of these children not to take them into a foreign country illegally, to endear in them loyalty to their native country and to encourage them to grow up and educate themselves so that they are an asset to their own country and not at the expense of another country. I am appalled as a US Citizens that other their are organizations operating in the US that is encouraging illegal immigration. Have the people have no shame?
Imagining how long the list would be if we wrote out the names of all the youth who wont get legalization through the DREAM Act cause they can’t afford college and refuse to join the military. Last estimate was that 62 % of undocumented youth could not access the educational path and less than 5 % could and would access the military path in the DREAM Act. That’s over 1 million names. Each of those names is just as important as Matias, Tam Tran, Marie Gonzalez and Prena. Seems to me like small changes to the PROUD Act could make it accessible to all undocumented youth unlike the DREAM Act which would require a complete overhaul to become accessible to the over 60% who currently would not be afforded any relief if it passed. More importantly the DREAM Act sets up a classist exceptionalism argument for papers. The PROUD Act could change the conversation. Lastly the DREAM Act literally calls our folks Aliens in the acronym while the PROUD Act calls us people. This is a small detail but reflective of a whole new paradigm.