Hispanic assemblymembers debate DREAM Act

January 31, 2013 Denise Romano
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Some Hispanic members of the State Assembly disagree about the contents of the DREAM Act, which was made loud and clear in a statement put out by the New York State Assembly/Senate Puerto Rican/ Hispanic Task Force on January 18.

The statement sent to members of the press by the Task Force slams Assemblymember Nicole Malliotakis for “insensitive remarks” she made regarding the DREAM Act’s goal of aiding illegal immigrants, while many American citizens are still recovering from Hurricane Sandy.

“We will continue to assist our fellow New Yorkers who are still in need of home repairs and other necessities to survive and rebuild but we are not going to attain that by taking away from the students who need financial assistance for their education,” said Assemblymember Felix Ortiz, chair of the Task Force. “To create a competition between these issues with the children, who are striving to be productive role models, with storm affected children and families is very disappointing.”

Malliotakis, who is half-Cuban, half-Greek and a first-generation American, had contended earlier this month that, given budget constraints, the priority should be helping New York families devastated by Sandy.

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“In our community,” she said, “people have lost their homes, their property, their life’s work and even their family members. These people have suffered through unfathomable adversity and they are the ones who deserve our assistance and attention. To focus time, energy and, most importantly, tax dollars on tuition aid for illegal aliens at a time when lifelong Americans are fighting to put their lives back together is unconscionable and frankly offensive.”

Malliotakis subsequently told this paper that the government needs to focus on American families who are trying to put their children through college.

“I just think that the Assembly’s priorities are misguided and misplaced. We have a very dire situation in the state: a $1 billion deficit on state level and a $16 trillion one on the federal level,” she explained. “We have people who are struggling to put their children though college and we have graduates who earn their degree and have tens of thousands of dollars in debt and they want to give tuition aid to those who are here illegally. It’s backwards.”

The assemblymember, who represents parts of Brooklyn and Staten Island, noted that she had voted in favor of legislation for the DREAM Fund, which would be a fund set up by companies through which privatized rather than taxpayer money would be allocated to set up scholarships for the undocumented.

“It would be funded privately, not publicly. I refuse to vote on limited taxpayer resources [to be given to] to people who are here illegally,” she said. “Tax-paying American citizens are trying to build their lives. Whether they are American born or legal, they are struggling and holding down multiple jobs. They should be our priority.”

The DREAM Act would allow illegal immigrants who are under 31 years old as of June 15, 2012, have been in the United States since before they were 16, and have lived in the country for at least five years, to remain in the country to finish their college education. Individuals who qualify also must have graduated from an American high school and be in good moral standing. Males are also required to be registered with the Selective Service.

The debate on dealing with undocumented immigrants is taking center stage on the national level as well. On January 29, President Obama unveiled “key principles” that he believes should be part of commonsense immigration reform. They include continuing to strengthen border security; cracking down on employers hiring undocumented workers; earned citizenship and streamlining legal immigration.

“We all agree that these men and women should have to earn their way to citizenship. We’ve got to lay out a path — a process that includes passing a background check, paying taxes, paying a penalty, learning English, and then going to the back of the line, behind all the folks who are trying to come here legally,” Obama said. “So that means it won’t be a quick process but it will be a fair process. And it will lift these individuals out of the shadows and give them a chance to earn their way to a green card and eventually to citizenship.”


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