Immigrant students spent Monday afternoon rallying outside Congressman Jim Cooper’s Nashville office. Recent high school grads are asking for a pathway to citizenship that runs through higher education.
The DREAM Act would allow illegal immigrants to attend a public university for in-state tuition – a fraction of what they’d pay now as an international student. They also become eligible for student loans. And, after two years in school or the military, the immigrant children can get permanent resident status.
Karla, who didn’t want to her full name broadcast, left Guadalajara, Mexico with her mother when she was five. She graduated with a 3.5 GPA in May after 13 years spent in Metro Schools.
“Like, I didn’t know I was doing something bad. There’s a lot of people, their parents bring them over and they don’t know better. And they’ve grown up in the United States, and that’s their home.”
The legislation requires students to have come to the country before they turned 15 and live in the U.S. at least five years.
A spokesman for Congressman Cooper says he wants to see how constituents feel about the DREAM Act before signing on as a co-sponsor in the House.
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