Passing the DREAM Act for Our Economy SOURCE: AP/Jacquelyn
Martin When I immigrated to Florida at age 10, it was the
immigrant students who welcomed and befriended me at South
Seminole Middle School. Carlos, Isabel, and a few others took
English as a Second Language classes with me, while others whose
families had immigrated years earlier and were already well on
their way to fluency showed us the ropes in the cafeteria,
teaching us not to order “fried potatoes,” but French fries.
Years later, some of these friends of mine would learn they were
among the estimated 151,000 young Floridians who lack legal
status—but not a dream. This population would start calling
themselves DREAMers in 2001 when the DREAM Act, a piece of
legislation that would provide a pathway to permanent legal
status for approximately 2.1 million undocumented youth
currently living in the United States, was first introduced in
Congress. Since then my courageous peers have fought for a
chance to go to college and be paid fair wages for an ho