Immigrants DREAM on: Neither Obama nor Romney will help you

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Immigrants DREAM on: Neither Obama nor Romney will help you

Undocumented students who now have conditional, permanent residency thanks to the DREAM Act have been protesting Mitt Romney and his stance on immigration, or lack thereof, across the country.

"He advocates for self-deportation, he is against very logical legislation like the DREAM act, like deferred action," says Sofia Campos of DreamTeam L.A.

ReasonTV caught up with some of the protesters in downtown Los Angeles, and questioned them on their views of Romney, Obama, and a realistic future for immigration policy.

"President Obama has had a record number of deportations in his administration," says Pablo Reyes, president of National Pursuit of Dreams, "he passed deferred action, and we're thankful for that, but we know it's not the end battle."

About 2:30 minutes.

Produced by Tracy Oppenheimer. Camera by Mark Wagner.

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Comments

[The Derider]

"Because right now it's Obama and Romney. Obama against Romney-- Obama wins"

This is all you need to know about this video. It's unfortunate that these kids have a better understanding of the American political system than the interviewer, given that they can't vote and she can.

[darius404]

What a load of shit. There's not a dime's worth of difference between the two candidates, and anyone who really believes Obama will offer some sort of solution to the mess he's helped further is delusional.

[Hneckone]

Someone should tell those illegal immigrants - oh sorry, I mean "undocumented" students, that Romney and the folks from Arizona are against ILLEGAL immigration - not immigration per se.

Of course they love Obama for doing an end run around Congress by having the DHS issue the Deferred Action policy. I guess they're too young and idealistic to figure out Obama hasn't introduced or supported any real legislation to change current laws - only a policy to move certain people to the back of the deportation line. The only thing he's accomplished is the need to hire a bunch more drones feeding off the federal government teet to review applications and collect the $495 application fees.

[The Derider]

Democrats introduced the DREAM act. Republicans filibustered it.

[Hneckone]

The Dream Act would grant "conditional permanent residency" to applicants - not citizenship. "permanent residency" gets you a green card but not the right vote.

[Isaac Bartram]

Permanent Resident Aliens (AKA Green Card holders) are eligible to apply for citizenship after five years.

IOW, the only path to citizenship (and the right to vote) is a Green Card (unless you're Jack Kent Cooke and you can get get congress to pass a bill making you a citizen).

And forget that bullshit that they're "for legal immigration". The quotas for unskilled wotkers are so small that for all practical purposes an ordinary Mexican might get to apply for an immigrant visa after about twelve years on a waiting list.

If they were "for legal immigration", they be expanding the quota or at the very least expanding and liberalizing the guest worker programs.

[Isaac Bartram]

Amend the first sentence:

Permanent Resident Aliens (AKA Green Card holders) are eligible to apply for citizenship after five years, except for those who join the military who may become eligible after only three years.

[C. S. P. Schofield]

They're also too young and stupid to have figured out that anybody who makes it easier for them to stay in a country where they are trapped in a legal limbo is doing them no favor at all.

That is the nasty part of the (illegal) immigration debate; the people whose rhetoric is full of Hope held out to the illegals are the people whose policies will leave them stuck in a grey area where they can be preyed on.

[The Derider]

If this were true, they would leave voluntarily.

[darius404]

Except they seem to really like America. I wouldn't want to leave either, grey area or not. It's unfortunate that these kids have a better understanding of this than you, given that they're not citizens and you are.

[Knight]

Undocumented students who now have conditional, permanent residency thanks to the DREAM Act have been protesting Mitt Romney and his stance on immigration, or lack thereof, across the country.

I'm assuming this is a typo, but I feel compelled to point out that DACA (Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals), aka the Obama administration's executive order, is not the same as the DREAM Act. The latter would actually provide a pathway to citizenship and has stronger requirements. DACA for example applies to anyone in school or who has finished with a high school level education. The DREAM Act on the other hand would only deal with those who had served two years in the military or two years towards a bachelor degree.

[Sean Heningham]

Why don't they campaign against both Obama and Romney. If they're really as principled as they claim, they should be the first supporters of Johnson if this were actually such a major concern.

[XM]

I'm curious - how many of these kids (or their parents) have actually visited the INS and made an attempt to acquire green cards? You stayed in the country for maybe 20 years, and you don't at least have green card or SSN?

My family came here from Asia, became "illegal" when we overstayed our visas, but applied for green cards few years later. I got my green card when I was still in high school and I became a citizen not long after that. The "interview" for the citizenship is a comical no brainer that asks you who the current governor is or what the original 13 states were. The waiting, filing, and bureaucracy is a pain, but it can be done.

So you apparently came here when you were 3, and now you're 18, and you're demanding amnesty because you don't have a green card to protect you from deportation. OR that's how I understand it.

I'm down with amnesty. But while you're temporarily safe, you should be required to apply for a green card and submit to background checks - if you haven' already.

[Knight]

Hello there; I'm an illegal of the Mexican EWI (entry without inspection) variety. Just a quick response to your post,

INS doesn't exist anymore. It's now divided between ICE, USCIS, and a third agency whose name I can never recall.

The reason why people don't apply for a greencard or SSN is because they aren't eligible to do so. I think the confusion arises from the difference between visa overstayers and those who entered without inspection (which comprise the bulk of the current illegal population). Those who are EWI are subject to be deported and being placed a ten year minimum ban before being eligible to apply for any visa to re-enter the United States.

Take into account that Mexico and several Latin American countries are no longer eligible for the diversity lottery visa program. Even being sponsored by a company requires years, and is an option only open to a very small portion of people. Being sponsored by citizen or permanent resident relatives on the US side of the border takes a decade at least.

At minimum, if someone is lucky, a teenager who was deported now would be middle aged by the time they got a chance to return legally. The great bulk will never be able to.

DACA (Deferred Action) does not change things at all in regards to getting a green card. No one who benefits under DACA is suddenly eligible to apply for a Green Card. We are stuck in a legal limbo.