DREAM Act = Amnesty

The Jason Voorhees (the indestructible serial killer from the "Friday the 13th" movie series) of proposed federal legislation is about to be submitted, yet again, to congressmen for their consideration.  The DREAM Act simply won't die ... or more specifically, people who want it won't stop asking for it, no matter how many times it is rejected by legislators in Washington.

The folks who want to see millions of the undocumented legalized in this country are a minority, but they are passionate bunch.  Their emotional investment in illegal aliens and their family members prevents them from coming to terms with two basic mainstream realities:

1.  Most American voters view the DREAM Act as a reward to illegal alien families who have successfully violated our laws.

2.  If someone wants to be part of the U.S., most Americans expect that person to apply to enter like everyone else, and stay at home until we let him in.

Many proponents of the DREAM Act view themselves and/or their friends as powerless victims of our immigration system, and believe they are enduring a difficult existence that American citizens are obligated to undo - undo by letting them stay, work and vote here.

They will flatly deny that the DREAM Act is an amnesty by asserting that it allows a large portion of illegal aliens to "earn" citizenship rather than having it simply handed to them.  And that assertion is simply wrong.  The DREAM Act is, without question, little more than a glorified handout, and what it requires in return is hardly a fair price for the right to call oneself an American.  Is it an amnesty of the variety doled out to millions of illegal aliens in 1986?  No, it is the thinly disguised type championed by George W. Bush, Barack Obama and John McCain that has been peddled under the name "comprehensive immigration reform."  In short, it provides something of almost inestimable value (permanent legal residency leading to U.S. citizenship) in return for practically (not quite!) nothing.

The DREAM Act would work like this.  Any illegal alien brought in to the U.S. while 15 or younger, who has been here 3 years or longer and obtained a high school diploma or GED somewhere along the line, is given legal residency in return for 60 college units (2 years of college credit) or 2 years in the military.

The DREAM Act beneficiaries would not be required to earn a degree, would not have to attend a university or any traditional four-year institution (JC or community college course credits will be accepted), and would not have to receive training in any academic or professional area where the U.S. population currently produces insufficient numbers (Mathematics, Nursing, etc.).

For those illegal aliens incapable of, or unwilling to work for, junior college credits that could essentially be accumulated by many of the brighter household animals you may have had an opportunity to walk or feed, there is a military service option.  Two years is what it will take.  Period.  No combat requirement.  No assignment to ongoing conflict areas.  No length of commitment any longer than what was required of citizens whom we formerly drafted.

In short, the DREAM Act is a sad joke.  An amnesty?  Sure.  Why, because it requires nothing?  No, because it requires things that almost no one can fail to accomplish.  The academic and armed services "requirements" are so insultingly simple that they are a hop, skip and jump away from asking the beneficiaries to learn to chew gum and walk, clip their fingernails twice a month, and to make sure to have milk in the refrigerator for when the kids come home from school.

Think of it like this - You walk into the nearest Mercedes dealership and plop down $500 in cash.  In return, the salesman hands you the papers and keys to a shiny new 2011 model sitting in the showroom; that's pretty much the spirit and essence of the DREAM Act.