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Despite the fact that progress has stalled at the national level, localities across the United States are debating and passing local resolutions to demonstrate their support of the DREAM Act. From Somerville, Massachusetts to Harrisonburg, VA, local councils and school committees have decided to throw their weight, if not their laws, behind the DREAM Act and the communities that they serve.
I’m not exactly sure what this means from a legal perspective, but it is encouraging to see that so many localities, those who are in touch with the needs of the citizens they work and play with, are beginning to realize that the people affected by passage of the DREAM Act are not faceless “illegals” living in the shadows, or the cliched “criminals” found sneaking into the country in Tea Party mid-term election ads, but their neighbors and friends. The people affected are the people they interact with on a daily basis and the school systems and councils that serve those populations are stepping up and doing the right thing.
Who knows, maybe we should learn from the activists who are driving change at the local level…they are certainly taking their planning and organizing cues directly form the Civil Rights movement and they are achieving success where others (at least to this point) haven’t been able to. Their incremental approach may even convince some of the more stalwart defenders of comprehensive immigration reform (CIR) to change their tune and support the passage of piecemeal reform like the DREAM Act, instead of insisting that it’s either CIR or nothing.
And maybe, as an end result, something will pass that will help at least a subset of the population.
Check out the following stories…they paint a picture of what’s happening across the nation:
I hope, it’s OK