Now you know why they want you here:
"Harvard president, student team up for the Dream Act; Visit D.C. to urge approval of new path to residency" by Maria Sacchetti, Globe Staff | September 16, 2010
Harvard president Drew Gilpin Faust and an immigrant student detained in June for being in the United States illegally from Mexico joined forces in Washington yesterday to urge the Senate to pass legislation that would let youths like him apply for legal residency.
Faust and sophomore Eric Balderas paid a symbolic visit to the office of Senator Richard Durbin, Democrat of Illinois, to promote the Dream Act, as the measure is gathering steam for a possible vote next week, said Durbin spokesman Max Gleischman.
Senate majority leader Harry Reid said this week that he wants to attach the act to a defense bill and bring it up for a vote. Balderas was detained on his way back to Harvard for the summer, and Durbin personally stepped in to prevent his deportation.
“I’m anxious to do this,’’ said Durbin, a chief sponsor of the bill, before meeting with Faust and Balderas. “I can’t tell you how many people come up to me and look me in the eye and ask me, ‘When is this going to happen?’ It breaks my heart. Many of them have tears in their eyes. . . . They come forward and say, ‘It’s my life, give me a chance.’ That’s what I’m going to try to do.’’
Advocates of the Dream Act — who include college presidents such as Faust, business leaders, and the College Board — say the act helps youths like Balderas, who did not knowingly break the law by coming into this country illegally. His parents brought him here from Mexico when he was 4 years old. He was his high school’s valedictorian in San Antonio, Texas, and he won a scholarship to Harvard, where he hopes to become a cancer researcher.
You know, a job Americans wouldn't want.
Given the state of our education system, it wouldn't be something they would promote, either.
Instead we get bullying and gay and global warming.
After the meeting, Faust issued a statement thanking Durbin and urging passage of the act, saying it “would throw a lifeline to thousands of students across the country like Eric who, through no fault of their own, face uncertain futures due to their immigration status.
“These young men and women are working hard in school and are dedicated to a future living in and contributing to our communities or serving in the military,’’ she said. “I believe it is in our best interest to educate all students to their full potential.’’
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The unexpected push comes amid frustration among immigrant advocates and Latino voters over the stall of immigration reform in Washington....
At home on Cape Cod yesterday, 22-year-old Carlos Savio Oliveira was tracking the news online.
That is what I ought to be doing rather than reading a stinking Boston Globe.
He graduated from high school and wanted to join the Navy but couldn’t because he has been here illegally from Brazil since he was 8 years old. Now he has hope, he said.
“If it passes then it literally will change everything,’’ he said. “I always wanted to join the military. It would be my next step.’’
And his next salute a sig heil.
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Related: Harvard Law aids teen’s asylum appeal
Update: Youth immigration bill falls five votes short of passage
