Looks like the DREAM is rising again. The DREAM Act, that is, and mothers have been weighing in on a vote that may come up in Congress as soon as today.
Women overwhelmingly support the DREAM Act, a bipartisan piece of legislation that would provide a path to legal status for thousands of young people who have been raised in the United States, worked hard in school, and pursued a higher education, or served their country in the military. In fact, according to polling data commissioned by First Focus, 72 percent of women in the United States support the DREAM Act.
MomsRising collaborated with First Focus and Legal Momentum to send Congress a message to explain why women and mothers believe the DREAM Act would be good for our country. We included quotations we had gathered from mothers across the country such as these:
I am a mom of a gorgeous 3-year-old girl, and I support the DREAM Act because it would break my heart if my child was ever denied the opportunity to become a college student just because of where she was born.
-- Alina
I'm a mom and I support the DREAM Act because any hardworking student who grows up in the United States deserves to further their education and give back to society. This is a win-win situation for everyone: the students, the universities, the communities, employers, the economy, and society! It's time to do what's right for these students. The consequences of doing nothing are devastating to everyone.
-- Tammy
I am a mother and a grandmother and a teacher with 20 years of classroom experience. In fact, I was the Utah Teacher of the Year who taught in both the suburbs of Salt Lake and its homeless shelters. I know kids. I love kids. My kids and other people's kids. Some of those kids live in the shadows. They are good kids who work hard in school and play on the team and join the chess club and sing in the musical. But that life is in limbo unless we can do the right thing and give them a path of citizenship. They live in our communities and if we care about our communities we must bring these precious children into the light of a country they love. Pass the Dream Act. Now.
-- Lily
[The DREAM Act] ties in with one of the major ideas throughout this country's history of the promise of America and what it means to be American: that what you make of yourself is more important than where you're from and what your background is.
-- Margaret
I started advocating for the DREAM Act while volunteering for the internationally known Carl Hayden High School's robotics program. They have been profiled on Wired Magazine, Readers' Digest in several languages and on TV Nightline. There I found the most talented and accomplished students and discovered that some of them are undocumented. My family made a pact of solidarity with them and I took the advocacy of the DREAM Act students as a full-time job (unpaid, BTW). I could not have asked for a more exhilarating experience than to fight alongside some of the best human capital of the USA to attain a legalization process. It has also been heartbreaking and frustrating. Knowing the challenges they face and especially the danger of detention, incarceration and deportation sometimes keeps me awake at night. As a good mother, I care about them as I care for my own children.
-- Carmen
After months -- no, years -- of hard work, the DREAM Act is moving forward in Congress. We could see votes related to the DREAM Act as early as today in the House of Representatives and in the Senate. We ask Congress to listen to the voices of women and mothers, and to the vast majority of Americans in general, who support the DREAM Act.
Want to make sure your voice is heard? Our friends at the National Council of the Raza have created a simple way for you to contact your representatives. Click here to call and tell your members of Congress to vote yes on the DREAM Act.
This blog is part of the Peaceful Revolution series that explores innovative ideas to strengthen America's families through public policies, business practices, and cultural change. Done in collaboration with MomsRising.org, read a new post here each week.