Sunday, July 11, 2010

DREAM Act bill would have most impact in California, Texas

DREAM Act bill could provide legal status for some young illegal immigrants.

 

Immigrants in Texas and California would be the biggest winners if Congress and President Barack Obama support legislation allowing young illegal immigrants to acquire U.S. legal status based on education and military service, according to a study released last week.

Bill Text
111th Congress (2009-2010)
H.R.1751.IH

Bill Summary & Status
111th Congress (2009 – 2010)
H.R.4920

Bill Summary & Status
111th Congress (2009 – 2010)
S.729

The analysis by the Migration Policy Institute, a nonprofit group that researches immigration issues, concluded that the bill introduced last year could put approximately 2.1 million youth and young adults on a potential path to citizenship.
The institute estimated that only 38 percent of potential beneficiaries — 825,000 people — would likely obtain permanent legal status through the education and military routes set out in the Development, Relief and Education for Alien Minors Act, or DREAM Act.
“Many potential DREAM Act beneficiaries would face difficulties in meeting the legislation’s higher education or military service requirements,” said Margie McHugh, co-author of the study. Inability to pay college tuition and problems with English proficiency would reduce the number of potential beneficiaries, she said.
California would have the most potential beneficiaries with 553,000 youngsters theoretically able to meet the requirements, the report said.  Texas would come in second, with just over 250,000 possible beneficiaries, followed by Florida with 192,000, New York with 146,000 and Arizona, with 114,000.
The Migration Policy Institute report concludes that the DREAM Act would have a wide reach.more

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