PRESS STATEMENT: U.S. Senate Denies an Education for Immigrant Students

Wednesday, October 24, 2007

Contact: Ali Noorani, Executive Director. MIRA Coalition: (617) 835-1402

Shuya Ohno, Communications, MIRA Coalition: (617) 821-8990

PLEASE NOTE: STUDENTS AVAILABLE FOR PRESS

Boston, MA - The US Senate failed by a 52-44 vote to achieve cloture on the DREAM Act. The following is a statement from Ali Noorani, Executive Director of the Massachusetts Immigrant and Refugee Advocacy Coalition:

"Today, the US Senate voted against a future generation of immigrant children. It is important to realize that today’s vote is about more than politics. It is about hard working young people who have done everything society has asked of them. It is about students who for years have been fighting for the opportunity for an education. It is about the 65,000 kids who graduate from high school each year to a precarious and uncertain place in American society. It is about immigrants wanting to become Americans in every sense of the word. Today’s vote against the DREAM Act is about not allowing immigrant dreams to become to American Dreams.

It is a disgrace that some Senators decided to stop kids from going to college and that they bought into the fear created by a very small group of anti-immigrant people. In the end, we ask, what do 44 members of the United States Senate have against hard working young people who want to go to college or serve in the armed services?

It is apparent the White House really dislikes children. Following on his veto of the SCHIP program, President Bush announced his opposition to the DREAM Act which would have allowed immigrant youth to get a college education or serve in the armed forces.

And, it is increasingly clear that a majority of Senate Republicans - along with a number of Democrats - would rather fear-monger and scapegoat children than come up with any kind of a solution to our broken immigration system.

As Patricia De Oliveira told me, ‘As a student, I am not going to let these Senators decide my future. They will NOT take my future from me. We are going to fight until we have the right to an education. We are in this until we win. That’s the bottom line.’"