REFERENCE TITLE: DREAM act |
State of Arizona House of Representatives Fifty-first Legislature First Regular Session 2013
|
HCM 2006 |
|
Introduced by Representatives Quezada, Dalessandro, Senator Gallardo: Representative Sherwood
|
A CONCURRENT MEMORIAL
urging the united states congress to enact the dream act.
(TEXT OF BILL BEGINS ON NEXT PAGE)
To the Congress of the United States of America:
Your memorialist respectfully represents:
Whereas, the United States of America is a nation of immigrants and has been from its inception; and
Whereas, throughout our nation's history, immigrants have created, developed and maintained our country in all areas, including education, health, commerce, defense, science, culture and the arts; and
Whereas, despite periods of hostility toward immigrants, our country, time and time again, has promoted the assimilation of immigrants into American society; and
Whereas, despite this assimilation, the current national legal system of immigration has grown increasingly complex and dysfunctional, to the point that an estimated 2.1 million undocumented youth currently reside in the United States without the opportunity to pursue an education or to otherwise contribute to American society; and
Whereas, these undocumented youth entered the country as children and know only the United States of America as their home; and
Whereas, the DREAM Act would provide certain undocumented youth who arrived in this country as minors with a credible path to legal residency if they satisfy certain conditions, including graduating from high school or receiving a general equivalency diploma and attending college or serving in our country's armed forces; and
Whereas, the DREAM Act would also provide a path to citizenship on the satisfaction of a number of conditions, including the maintenance of good moral character and the payment of fees; and
Whereas, the DREAM Act would repeal the current penalty for states that provide in-state tuition without regard to immigration status; and
Whereas, the DREAM Act will validate the significant American public support, including public education, that these youths have received, by creating a viable pathway to citizenship; and
Whereas, the DREAM Act will promote a sustainable national economy for the United States by providing corporate and government entities, including educational institutions and health care organizations, with a highly educated workforce and military and by providing the United States with a multilingual workforce to compete in an increasingly globalized economy; and
Whereas, the DREAM Act, by some estimates, could provide the American economy with a population that generates from $1.4 trillion to $3.6 trillion in income over a forty-year period; and
Whereas, the DREAM Act has been endorsed by Americans from all areas of our society as an expression of our nation's fundamental value of fairness.
Wherefore your memorialist, the House of Representatives of the State of Arizona, the Senate concurring, prays:
1. That the United States Congress enact the DREAM Act.
2. That the Secretary of State of the State of Arizona transmit copies of this Memorial to the President of the United States Senate, the Speaker of the United States House of Representatives and each Member of Congress from the State of Arizona.