Momentum is building in the US higher education community in
support of a piece of federal legislation known as the DREAM Act
(Development, Relief, and Education for Alien Minors Act of
2009). The DREAM Act would provide relief from deportation and
other immigration penalties for some ‘undocumented’ individuals
(that is, those currently without legal status in the United
States), as well as access to certain benefits related to higher
education. The focus of the legislation is young people who were
brought to the United States illegally as children, who then
went on to reside in the US for at least 5 years, and have
completed high school or been admitted to a US institution of
higher education. The Hispanic Association of Colleges and
Universities estimates that some 65,000 undocumented high school
graduates could be affected by the measure and on 17 June 2010
it released a statement on behalf of a coalition of 25 national
higher education organisations urging the US Congress to pass
this legislation before i