Sunday, June 06, 2010

Amid Arizona immigration protests, a new generation dreams of the Dream Act

Amid Arizona immigration protests, a new generation dreams of the Dream Act: PHOENIX -- Among the 10,000 or so protesters who gathered in front of the state Capitol here last weekend under a scorching sun, one group stood out. Despite the heat, they wore graduation caps and gowns in shiny royal blue and sunburst yellow.

They were graduates of American colleges, young people who mostly grew up in the United States, accidental Americans who just happen to be living here illegally.

Like the rest of the crowd, they came to protest Arizona's controversial new immigration enforcement law, but they also sought recognition of a long-sought goal -- passage of the Dream Act, federal legislation that would provide a path toward legal status for people like them, undocumented immigrants who were brought to this country as children by their parents.