Beyond the DREAM Act

inthesetimes.com — In the near future, more than 7.5 million permanent residents, mostly Latinos, are primed to become naturalized citizens and eligible voters. Politicians will have no choice but to heed an increasingly progressive Latino vote. Activists would do well to use their newfound clout to demand reforms that go beyond deferred action or a revived DREAM Act. These two plans offer a path to legal status for young, educated people, but not for their parents, and not for other Latino youth who came to the United States to support their families abroad. Many of these young people are semiliterate in both Spanish and English, and therefore unable to meet education requirements. To settle for reform that affects only the most fortunate of the have-nots would be a mistake.

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