December 10, 2010
College student supports DREAM Act for her friends
Editor’s note: The following article was prepared by the Message staff with the assistance of the Guadalupe Center in Huntingburg.
Maria Paz Dubon lives in Huntingburg and is currently a student at Vincennes University at Jasper. She is concerned about her friends who cannot attend the university as she can.
“I am fortunate to have the opportunity to attend college and to prepare myself for a better future, and have the freedom that I would not have had if I didn’t have the documents required to attend school,” she said.
“On my graduation day [from high school] I felt sorrow because I was one of the few immigrants to have the opportunity to increase my education and prepare myself for the job that I have always dreamed of.”
“It is hard for me to attend college knowing that most of my friends cannot achieve their lifetime goal of getting their dream job, because the college that they want to attend requires the documents that they don’t have.”
Dubon is in favor of the DREAM Act, which has been introduced by Democratic Senator Dick Durban of Illinois and Republican Senator Richard Lugar of Indiana.
The bill was modified from an earlier form, as sponsors hope for passage during the current lame duck session of congress.
The DREAM Act would affect undocumented persons who came to the United States before they reached the age of 16. They would be able to pursue a path toward citizenship through college studies or military service and living up to certain other provisions.
“In my heart I feel rage because brilliant young teenagers who are capable of doing great things,” Dubon said, but “when they went to look for the opportunity to better their life, the door of life slammed on their faces.
“It’s sad to see a straight A student, on the honor roll, [with] always perfect attendance, receiving acknowledgement, and always having good compliments from their teachers, being denied the right to attend college.”
Dubon hopes that “those who understand some of the people’s situations” will “please say yes to the DREAM Act, because some people cross the dangerous border, narrowly escaping death, just for their dreams to be shattered in the United States.
“In high school one of my best friends would always tell me she wanted to be in my place, so that she could continue her education and become a lawyer.”