Today the US Senate voted against passage of the DREAM Act. This legislation would have given the children of immigrant parents who are here without legal documents a pathway to become citizens. I am disappointed and ashamed of their vote against these young people who have done nothing wrong, and want only the chance to be productive citizens. I have many young friends this legislation would have affected. They know no other homeland. Most have never left the US since coming here with their parents as babies or young children. Ricardo sees his parents working day and night for him and his siblings, and wants only the chance to study and work to repay them for their sacrifices. The DREAM act would have given him that chance. Bette is afraid to go anywhere after school because she fears she will be arrested and sent to a land she has never visited since she was two years old. Sarah wants to be a nurse. Salvador wants to study engineering. What are these people supposed to do with their lives now?
This piece is for them, and for the many "Dreamers" who led hunger strikes for the passage of this legislation. "Per aspera ad astra: Through adversity to the stars" I know there will be justice for them and for us all one day, it just takes more of us working for it, and a lot of perseverance. We are, after all aiming for the stars, for heaven on earth.
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