-
Will the DREAM Act be an incentive for other students to come to the country?
The DREAM Act offers absolutely NO incentive for undocumented people to enter the country. It provides zero benefit for immigrants who are not already here. In fact, it requires students to have come to the U.S. as children and at least 5 years before the time of enactment.
-
Will the DREAM Act be a fiscal burden and increase the strain on state educational systems?
Just the opposite is true. The DREAM Act is a great deal for taxpayers. A 1999 RAND study showed that an immigrant who graduates from college will, on average, pay $5,300 more in taxes and cost $3,900 less in social program cost each year than if she had dropped out of high school. This amounts to an annual boost of over $9,000 per person every year. State and local taxpayers are already investing in the education of these children in elementary and secondary school and deserve to get a return on their investment
-
Would the DREAM Act reward people who came here illegally?
The only thing the DREAM Act would reward is strength of character and hard work. Students have to earn legal status by: 1) excelling in school, 2) graduating from high school (an enormous feat for immigrant children who make up a quarter of America’s high school dropouts), 3) maintaining good moral character with a clean criminal record, 4) learning English well, pledging love and allegiance to this nation, and 5) earning a bachelor’s degree from an accredited university or serve a minimum of two-years of military service. This is far from being a handout.
