A conservative alternative to the DREAM Act

The Conservatives for Comprehensive Immigration Reform coalition is continuing to strive for conservative solutions aimed at fixing our fundamentally broken immigration system. As our 2012 legislative session gets underway, we are calling on our government to rise above the difficult politics of immigration and to work toward these much needed solutions. One such solution that we believe does have bipartisan support, and that could pass in 2012, would be a conservative alternative to the DREAM Act that also includes border security.
 
As conservatives, we acknowledge, and in fact celebrate, that the United States is a nation of laws. However, we also acknowledge that the United States is, and always has been, a nation of compassion. In fact, I would argue that the Unites States is arguably the most compassionate nation in the history of the world. I would also argue that while we embrace compassion with an open heart, we do, and must always, embrace our compassion with open eyes as well.

Therefore, we do have compassion for the children of immigrants who were brought here, through no fault of their own, illegally. For those children that in all other aspects played by the rules, excelled academically and have stayed on the straight and narrow, we do feel that they are a special case, and are most worthy of our compassion. After all, we embrace the tenet of Compassionate Conservatism. We believe that conservatism is a good thing -- a valuable thing. In our country, it is also a good thing -- some would say a prerequisite thing, and certainly a moral thing -- to allow our compassion to go hand in hand with our conservatism.
 

The Democratic version of the DREAM Act has been floating around the halls of Congress for over a decade, and has enjoyed a measure of bipartisan support. However, it has never enjoyed enough support to pass. We think that is because, at the end of the day, it provides a back-door amnesty to the undocumented parents of the undocumented children. Our coalition does not support amnesty, and as long as the undocumented children could someday file a petition to legalize their undocumented parents, we are divided on the DREAM Act. However, a conservative alternative would solve that problem. A conservative DREAM Act would not provide for any path to citizenship, or even legal permanent residency status. It would allow these children to stay in this country as non-immigrants or guest workers. This offers a very relevant distinction; it provides no mechanism for the children to petition anyone, including their parents, to come to or stay in the United States. Therefore, there would be no amnesty for the parents, and no future “chain migration.”
 
Furthermore, if there is one thing that conservatives and progressives could, or should agree on, is that we need to once and for all secure our borders. We feel that a 2012 alternative DREAM Act would provide an opportunity to address border security in a real and fundamental way. We feel that as an amendment to this conservative alternative to the DREAM Act, there should be a serious bill that further and dramatically does secure our borders. We would support such a plan.
 
I would add one caveat: the undocumented children that would otherwise qualify for this alternative DREAM Act that choose to serve for 4 years in the military should be given an opportunity to become citizens. Right now, these undocumented children are ineligible to serve in the military. This alternative DREAM Act would allow these young men and women to serve our country, and if they do, they should be eligible to become American citizens.
 
However, this alternative DREAM Act would significantly tighten up some of the other aspects of the Democratic DREAM Act, such as criminal records. We want young men and women who respect the law to be able to qualify as candidates for this bill. It would also lower the age to qualify for this bill from the current 35 years old, thus dramatically reducing the potential pool of candidates.
 
This conservative alternative DREAM Act would serve our country well. It would solve two very pressing issues: what we should do with the high-achieving, undocumented children in this country, and what we should do about border security.
 
Finally, to those on the left that would argue that anything less than citizenship is a non-starter, I say that is simply not true. In fact, just a few months ago, I spoke in Tucson, Arizona to a large audience of primarily Hispanic Evangelicals at the National Hispanic Christian Leadership Conference’s Immigration Summit. At that event, I suggested the plan as described above. During the Q&A session at the end of the program, we took a vote, and only 10 out of approximately 900 attendees had a problem with this “non-citizenship” plan. In other words, 99 percent of the immigrants at that church event were tired of excuses. They just want a law that will solve this problem, and a conservative alternative to the DREAM Act, including border security, will solve two very pressing problems – and will have strong support among conservatives, as well as Hispanics. Our nation is crying for common sense solutions. This alternative plan is a common sense solution to the DREAM Act and to border security – and it can pass in 2012.
 
Robert Gittelson, a businessman and author, is the co-founder of Conservatives for Comprehensive Immigration Reform.

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