[migrawatch-public] On the DREAM Act

On the DREAM Act

An Open Letter to Latino and Latina students and all
leaders of
immigrant rights organizations

By Fernando Suárez Del Solar
August 5, 2007

Fernando Suarez del Solar, whose son Jesus, was one of the
first U.S.
servicemen killed in Iraq, become an outspoken peace
activist, and
Founder/Director Guerrero Azteca Project:
http://www.guerreroazteca.org/

In the wake of the failed immigration reform, passionate
discussions
have arisen among various organizations both for and
against the DREAM
Act.

It give me great joy to see students taking non-violent
action to find
a solution to the immigration question. Many of them came
to the
United States as children and have finished their high
school
education. Now, because they lack legal documents, they
face an
uncertain future that may deny them the opportunity to
attend college
or find a decent job. The DREAM Act offers them a light at
the end of
an otherwise dark and uncertain road.

I see students on fasts, in marches, lobbying elected
officials, all
in the name of the DREAM Act's passage. But BEWARE. Be
very careful.
Because our honorable youth with their dreams and wishes
to serve
their new country are being tricked and manipulated in an
immoral and
criminal way.

Why do I say this? Simply put, the DREAM Act proposes two
years of
college as a pathway to permanent residency but it also
includes a
second option linked to the so-called war on terror-"two
years of
military service." Our young people may not see that this
is a covert
draft in which thousands of youth from Latino families
will be sent to
Iraq or some other war torn nation where they will have to
surrender
their moral values and become a war criminal or perhaps
return home in
black bags on their way to a tomb drenched with their
parents' tears.

How many of our youth can afford college? How many will be
able to
take the educational option? Unfortunately very few
because the
existing system locks out the children of working families
with high
tuition and inflated admissions criteria. Most will be
forced to take
the military option to get their green card. But what good
is a green
card to a dead person? What good is a green card to a
young person
severely wounded in mind and body?

I ask our undocumented youth to read the following
passages regarding
the plans of the Pentagon and the Bush administration:

In his testimony before the Senate Armed Services
Committee on July
10, 2006, Under Secretary of Defense David Chu said:
"According to an
April 2006 study from the National Immigration Law Center,
there are
an estimated 50,000 to 65,000 undocumented alien young
adults who
entered the U.S. at an early age and graduate from high
school each
year, many of whom are bright, energetic and potentially
interested in
military service...Provisions of S. 2611, such as the
DREAM Act, would
provide these young people the opportunity of serving the
United
States in uniform."
More recently, Lt. Col. Margaret Stock of the U.S. Army
Reserve and a
faculty member at West Point told a reporter that the
DREAM Act could
help recruiters meet their goals by providing a "highly
qualified
cohort of young people" without the unknown personal
details that
would accompany foreign recruits. "They are already going
to come
vetted by Homeland Security. They will already have
graduated from
high school," she said. "They are prime candidates."

(Citations from research by Prof. Jorge Mariscal, UC San
Diego)

As you can see, our undocumented youth are being targeted
by military
recruiters. And equally important is something that few
people have
mentioned-there is no such thing as a two year military
contract.
Every enlistment is a total of eight years.

Given these facts, I invite all young people who are
filled with hope
and dreams and energy to fight for human rights and for a
fair pathway
to legalization. But they must also demand that the
military option
of the DREAM Act be replaced by a community service option
(as
appeared in earlier drafts of the legislation) so that
community
service or college become the two pathways to permanent
residency.
Only then will they avoid becoming victimized by a
criminal war as my
son Jesús Alberto did when he died on March 27, 2003 after
stepping on
an illegal U.S. cluster bomb. Through education or
community service
our undocumented youth can contribute to their communities
and their
future will be filled with peace and justice.

Fernando Suarez del Solar

Link to the article:
http://www.immigrantsolidarity.org/cgi-bin/datacgi/database.cgi?file=Issues&report=SingleArticle&ArticleID=0924

Related Articles:

7/25: Illegal Immigrants: Uncle Sam Wants You
Latino teenagers, including illegal immigrants are being
recruited
into the military with false promises. >> Read More

Counter Recruitment Watch - Projects of Peace NO War
Network
http://www.counterrecruitment.net

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