A Closer Look At Eligibility and Benefits For Those Who Could Apply For The DREAM Act

With a DREAM Act vote expected at the end of the week in the Senate, negotiations continue to rage with hope that after some procedural maneuvering there could be a vote this Friday on final passage.

In the mean time  John Creighton of the Washington Times has written an article on the DREAM Act for his column "Dispatches From The Homeland", this article is worth reading because it highlights who is eligible for the DREAM Act and what the process is for recieving benefits from this legislation. The article also clears up a large misconception about the DREAM Act: the actual level of eligibility for social services for current undocumented immigrants, and those who actually become legal permanent residents:

“We can’t get Medicaid,” asserted a young man.  “That’s impossible without a Social Security number.  We pay taxes but we’re not eligible for benefits.”  Even if the DREAM Act passes, these students would not be eligible for many, perhaps most, government services. “We’ve contributed all our lives,” added another student.  “We volunteer.  We collect food for the food drive and clothes for the clothes drive [at school].  We always try to help.

This is an important distinction as much of the current complaints from conservatives as to why they cannot support the DREAM Act is because it gives undocumented immigrants access to too many social services. This is flat out not true. The Senate Leadership released a list of changes made to House Legislation which actually makes it much harder for recipients of the DREAM Act to receive any social services.

House Addition: Does not grant lawful permanent resident (LPR) status to anyone for at least 10 years; instead, an individual who meets the bill’s requirements becomes a “conditional nonimmigrant.”

What This Means:  First things, this portion of the bill requires TEN Years of background checks and good behavior as a conditional non-immigrant, before the status of LPR is applied. Only after 10 years as a conditional nonimmigrant may a DREAM Act beneficiary apply for LPR status. Earlier versions of the DREAM Act provided “conditional permanent resident status” for 6 years, at which time those eligible could apply for LPR status.

Conditional non-immigrant status provides a Social Security number, however as beneficiaries of the DREAM Act, they are required to pay taxes but receive no other federal benefits except the ability to get students loans and work study.

Getting back to the conservative argument that DREAM allows immigrants to receive social services, this is tangentially true, only it is after 10 years of good service and after paying into the system. Not a sinister grafting of the system as many conservative pundits have tried to characterize the DREAM Act.

Lets also be clear here, under the current legislation before the Senate, people can apply and be rejected. This is not an easy process, especially since if someone applies for the DREAM Act and is rejected their undocumentted status is now public knowledge and they can deported.

Anyone who is willing to take that chance, and pay into the system for essentially 10 years, without receiving any benefits, should after meeting all of the background checks and requirements be allowed to fully recieve benifits.