Law Offers Illegal Immigrants With Criminal Records Amnesty

Legislation promoted by Democrats as a sympathy measure to help illegal immigrant children become American citizens will also allow undocumented adults with criminal records to obtain U.S. residency.

The lame-duck Congress is scrambling to pass the law, known as the DREAM Act, before the end of the year as a way to assist innocent kids brought to the U.S. by no fault of their own. The children should not have to pay for the bad decisions made by their illegal alien parents, according to those who back the controversial measure that has been rejected by Congress on several occasions.

Among the most advertised portion of the law is a path to U.S. citizenship for exemplary illegal immigrant high school graduates who attend two years of college. The costly provision would grant the undocumented students heavily discounted tuition at the nation’s public universities and colleges but the investment will pay off, says Education Secretary Arne Duncan, because the U.S. will become the country with the largest percentage of college graduates per capita. That will make America more competitive in the global economy, Duncan assures.

The reality is that the DREAM Act also includes a path to U.S. residency for illegal immigrants up the age of 35, amnesty for those with criminal convictions including driving under the influence and it prohibits the Department of Homeland Security from removing candidates with pending applications regardless of age or criminal history.

A Republican senator (Alabama’s Jeff Sessions) recently exposed this darker side of the law in a published report titled “Ten Things You Need To Know About S.3827, The DREAM Act.” Sessions points out that DREAM Act proponents claim the bill offers relief only to illegal alien kids even though it will also benefit adults with criminal histories and provide a safe harbor for all illegal immigrants.

The law also prohibits limitations on the number of aliens eligible for amnesty and waives all caps on green cards, which means more than 2 million illegal immigrants could qualify for  U.S. residency and possibly citizenship. Even those who attend college don’t have to finish a degree to obtain amnesty and the Department of Homeland Security is prohibited from using information on denied DREAM Act applications to remove or investigate any illegal immigrants.