Column by Joe Gallenstein

“Give me your tired, your poor, your huddled masses yearning to breathe free, the wretched refuse of your teeming shore. Send these, the homeless, tempest-tossed to me, I lift my lamp beside the golden door!”

These words are engraved on the Statue of Liberty, a symbol recognized beyond just America that represents the yearning all people feel to be free, and the promise that America represents. For 122 years, these words have inspired the world, and it is important that we remember the promise America makes to the world.

This is a land of freedom and justice, and a land that was predicated on the fact that people are born with inalienable rights. Yet, we as a country have not decided what rights people who did not have the good fortune to be born in this country should have. Nor have we learned how to adequately address the issues of the millions of people who want to be a part of the American dream in a fair and just manner, and this is no more obvious than in the young men and women who graduate from American high schools without documentation.

According to a U.S. News Report on Aug. 7, 2008, there are an estimated 65,000 undocumented persons who graduate from high school every year. Many of these persons have been living in this country for years, some having lost the language their parents grew up with, and are in thought and spirit as American as anyone else. Yet, according to our immigration policy, these persons are left in legal limbo and are unable to attain the citizenship that many of their peers were given at birth.

This issue affects a growing number of people in Kentucky, especially here in Lexington. According to the Lexington-Fayette Commission on Immigration Report on November 6, 2007, roughly 7 percent of the population in Lexington-Fayette County schools is Latino. The result is that without an alteration in our immigration laws, those within the 7 percent who are not documented are destined to become second-class residents with no home that will readily recognize their existence.

The sad truth is that this issue is everywhere, and it is one that we must address. As long as the American dream persists, people will seek to come here for the opportunity America provides for those who are willing to work. Some people in Congress have crafted a piece of legislation entitled the DREAM Act that would provide an easier way for these immigrants to become American citizens and allow them to make their new country a better place.

This legislation would, according to the National Immigration Law Center, allow those people who entered the U.S. before the age of 16, who have lived here continually for five years or more, are of good moral character, and have either a GED or a high school diploma to earn citizenship by attaining a two year degree or better or fulfill a two year commitment or more to the military. The result is that those people who came here, whose parents possibly dreamed beside them of a better life in a more just country, would have the opportunity to be a full member of society, and would become capable of enriching this country in a very unique way.

Those who were brought here by their parents, who wish to make this country a better place, and who realize the opportunities this country uniquely provides are the perfect candidates for citizenship. The DREAM Act would adjust the current immigration policy to be  more fair and in line with the ideals this country was founded upon, and provides a way for many undocumented persons in Kentucky and elsewhere to help our country grow.