List of Pros and Cons of The Dream Act

The DREAM Act stands for Development, Relief and Education for Alien Minors and is a bill that was introduced in the United States Congress. This bill seeks to give young and undocumented immigrants in the United States the power to become legal citizens. The requirements are that they must have been living in the country since they were 15 years old or younger, must have graduated from an American high school, and finished at least two years of college or must have served in the U.S. Armed Forces.

Pros of The Dream Act

1. Provides Hope
The young undocumented immigrants only know America as their home because they did not spend a long portion of their life in their home country. Deporting them will therefore seem cruel. This will also go against the basic American sense of being fair when the children are punished due to the choices of their parents. This makes them live lives that are unfulfilled, full of fear and hopelessness.

2. Contributes to Economy
The illegal immigrants usually end up taking jobs that many other Americans do not like, this will therefore help and not harm the United States economy.

3. Provides Path to Citizenship
It will enable illegal immigrants to get the chance to stay in United States without the usual strict path to citizenship.

4. Generate More Tax Revenues
Additional tax revenues will be generated. This will therefore improve the economy and cut down on the government deficit.

5. No Fear of Deportation
Once the immigrants are legalized, they will have to rely on the justice system of America and will therefore fear doing any wrong because of punishment and possible deportation.

6. Strengthen Family Ties
The Act when passed will value strong family ties because families who have built their lives in America will not be broken up.

7. Redirect Resources
The large amount of security resources that have long been focused on illegal immigrants will now be redirected to other issues like tracking and finding terrorists.

8. Maintain Self Sufficiency
The illegal immigrants will have freedom as well as a pathway to self-sufficiency which is not available to many individuals when they are not in status.

9. Expand Military Recruitment Efforts
This Act will provide an opportunity to expand the recruiting pool of the U.S military and this helps the country in military readiness and recruitment. The military will therefore be able to recruit students eager to serve at a time when there is a large shortage of potential soldiers. This will enable the Defense Department have a volunteer force that will be mission ready. This is because the country faces countless threats and the supply of soldiers is unable to meet the demands placed on the armed forces.

10. Add a Multicultural Workforce
Since today’s global economy needs an educated and skilled workforce that is capable of creating, acquiring and distributing knowledge. The Dream Act will have a group of multilingual, talented and multicultural employees who will help America compete with other innovators throughout the world.

11. Reduction of High School Dropout Rates
There will be a reduction in the high school dropout rates and more students will be able to attend college. This is because the illegal immigrant students have barriers to higher education and this contributes to a higher dropout rate. This becomes costly to the taxpayers as well as the economy.

12. Increase Individual Potential and Value
The DREAM Act will show the full potential of young people that are willing to live out values like having a strong work ethic, deep loyalty to the country and service to others which are virtues that Americans cherish.

13. Strengthen Economic Security
This new generation of citizens will help strengthen America’s economic security and will be a new set of future taxpayers who will be able to contribute much more since they will be college graduates as compared to the other struggling workers who do other jobs that are not documented.

Cons of The Dream Act

1. Undeserving of Rights and Privileges
The DREAM Act, when passed, will imply that the government would be awarding privileges and rights to individuals who have not worked for them and are therefore not deserving of those privileges.

2. Influx of Illegal Immigration
There will be a further influx of illegal immigrants because it will now seem easy to secure a stable future in the United States.

3. Financially Expensive
It may be expensive to the native Americans because a portion of their taxes will be spent on helping the illegal immigrants.

4. Empowers Those That Broke the Law
The DREAM act may give the illegal immigrants power to break the law since they will become legal citizens.

5. Unfair to Those That Complied with Law
When passed, the Act will be unfair to the individuals who have complied with the requirements and rules for citizenship.

6. Rise in Government Deficits
There will be an increase in individuals who will utilize the limited government resources like education, health care and social security as they pay low taxes or none at all. This will make the government deficits grow and may lead to bankruptcy.

7. Erode American Cultural and Language
Because of the increase in illegal immigrants the DREAM Act will erode the American culture as well as the English language.

8. Job Shortages
There is a possibility that jobs for the native Americans will be taken away and this will cause the salaries or wages of jobs that are left to be low. The low salaries and wages will also be possible because of the increase in manpower that will be available making companies take advantage of the cheap labor.

9. Lack of Balance in System
This Act may create the invasion of voters who will support the lawmakers and president because of giving them citizenship. People will therefore not vote fairly and for the right people.

10. Overpopulation in Some Cities
There will be overpopulation and overcrowding in the American cities.

11. Influx of Foreign Criminals Crossing
There may be an influx of foreign enemies, drug dealers and terrorists who may exploit the Act. The Act will also provide a safe harbor for these criminals from being deported.

12. Rise in Unemployment
The high rates of unemployment may increase further because of the addition of more people into the country.

13. Inability to Track Immigrants
It will be very hard to estimate how many illegal immigrants will apply because it is very difficult to keep track of them.

14. Lower Need of Higher Education
The level of education will still be low because an illegal immigrant will not be required to finish any degree instead all they will need is to complete two years of college.