New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg Comes Out In Support of DREAM Act

As the DREAM Act hangs precariously in the balance in Congress, New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg has put out a statement of support of this job growing,  military preparedness legislation.

The language that Mayor Bloomberg uses does an excellent job of framing the DREAM Act as an important part of the long term economic recovery of America, while also contextualizing the historical importance of immigrant labor in the United States: 

As we are reminded every day in New York City, we are a nation of immigrants – and a nation that believes in rewarding talent and hard work.  And since the first days of the republic, immigrants have played a critically important role in doing the work and creating the businesses that keep our economy strong and growing.

“That makes immigrants absolutely key to our nation’s economic recovery.  In these tough times, what the United States needs is more immigrants, not fewer.  At the same time, our country must have more control of our borders, so we are the ones who decide who comes to our country.

More powerfully articulated though is the impact this will have on the children of immigrants who did nothing wrong, and have strived to positively participate in society:

Just think: there are more than 100,000 students in New York City schools whose future inability to become citizens is not a matter of their choice; their parents brought them here as children. 

There is no argument that they broke our immigration laws themselves. Unfortunately, as things stand today, once they leave school, instead of facing bright futures, they must contend with a heartbreaking reality:  Ineligible for student loans and legal jobs, many of these children end up doing low-wage, off-the-books work, and some end up facing deportation.  That not only hurts them; it hurts our country.

But why shouldn’t our economy benefit from the skills these young people have learned right here in our public schools?  They’ve played by the rules, worked hard, and shown they value education or military service.  They are just the kind of immigrants we need to help solve our unemployment problem.  Some of them will go on to create new small businesses and hire people.  Others may discover the next life-saving drug or pioneer the next big invention.

Food for thought, as we head into what looks like will be the last chance for an up or down vote on the DREAM Act for the foreseeable future.