For Immediate Release
July 16, 2007
Contacts: Ju Bum Cha , YKASEC, 718-460-5600
Morna Ha, NAKASEC, 323-937-3703
YongHo Kim , KRC, 323-937-3718
Eun Young Lee, KRCC, 773-506-9158
Hope for Immigrant Students – DREAM Act Moving in the Senate
[Los Angeles, CA] The bill that has given hope to immigrant students since 2001 is making significant progress this week. On Friday, July 13, Senators Dick Durbin (D-IL), Chuck Hagel (R-NE) and Richard Lugar (R-IN) announced that they will introduce the DREAM (Development, Relief, and Education for Alien Minors) Act as an attachment to the Department of Defense authorization bill (H.R. 1585). H.R. 1585 is currently being debated in the Senate and a vote on DREAM’s attachment is forthcoming. The entire bill is expected to come to a vote this week.
If adopted, the attachment would provide a leap forward in turning DREAM into reality this year. Tens of thousands of young people have eagerly awaited the chance to go to college, obtain a job of their choice or study, and to have a future with this bill. In spite of the setback in the Senate towards passing immigration reform legislation, NAKASEC and its affiliates will continue to work for broader reform in Congress. The passage of the DREAM Act would be at least one accomplishment in the right direction. Introduced in March 2007, the DREAM Act (S. 774 and H.R. 1275) has garnered 45 cosponsors in the House and 21 in the Senate.
NAKASEC and its affiliate youth groups, the Korean Resource Center’s ORAnGE in Los Angeles, the Korean American Resource and Cultural Center’s FYSH in Chicago, and YKASEC-Empowering the Korean American Community’s MIST in New York are urging community members to call their Senators everyday until H.R. 1585 is taken to a vote to ask for their support on the DREAM Act’s attachment:
Call 202-224-3121 to ask for your Senators and leave the following message:
“Immigrant students can’t wait any longer. We need the DREAM Act for our education and our future. Please pass the DREAM Act this year by voting yes to its attachment to HR 1585 this week and moving it forward in the Senate. Thank you”
###
[delicious]dream+english[/delicious]