Student Activist Encourages Peers to Act on DREAM Act - Kensington, MD Patch: For Albert Einstein High School senior Victor Benitez, the DREAM Act is not just a piece of legislation to help undocumented student immigrants become citizens. It is personal.
'I was one of those kids. I was undocumented,' said Benitez, who is working to educate his fellow students about the DREAM Act and drum up support for the bill, which was approved by the House of Representatives on Dec. 8 and is expected to be voted on in the Senate before the end of the year.
If passed into law, the DREAM Act, formally known as the Development, Relief and Education for Alien Minors Act of 2010, would protect those who entered the United States when they were younger than 16 from deportation and help them to become citizens. If passed, the act won't affect anyone older than 30.
The bill states that candidates must show they are 'of good moral character' since their first entry into the United States and that those with state or federal convictions or prison sentences of one year or more are not eligible for DREAM Act protection. It also requires a mandatory background check for each candidate.
