Assembly’s DREAM Act Tells Legal Immigrants They Were Fools

Statement on New York State Assembly’s DREAM Act from Assemblyman Kieran Michael Lalor (R,C,I – Fishkill)

“What is the Assembly saying today to legal immigrants? Or to the millions waiting to legally immigrate to the United States? There are almost 4.5 million people around the world waiting for visas to immigrate here. They’re trying to do it legally. They’re waiting online. The wait can take decades, even for family-based visas. What do they think when they hear about this bill?”

“Today the Assembly is telling them that they’re fools to try to do the right thing. The Assembly Democrats are saying they should have skipped the line and broken the law. This bill would reward those who cheated the system. It’s not fair to the millions who are waiting on line and trying to do the right thing.”

“Sheldon Silver argues that this bill helps children whose parents brought them here when they were young. But, the people waiting on line have children too. Silver is telling them they were fools to play by the rules. This bill says they should have broken the law and we would have rewarded their kids. Instead, they’re still waiting on line, with their kids.”

“What do we say to legal immigrants scrimping to put their kids through college? Their tax dollars are going to reward people who skipped ahead of them.”

“While the Assembly mocks all those waiting on line, we’re told that we can trust the verification system for this program. Illegal immigrants use false documents on a day-to-day basis. How are we going to prevent fraud and abuse?”

Assemblyman Kieran Michael Lalor, a former teacher at Our Lady of Lourdes in Poughkeepsie, is a Marine Corps veteran of Operation Iraqi Freedom and founder of the Dutchess County based consulting firm KML Strategies, LLC.

  Assembly’s DREAM Act, illegal immigrants, Kieran Michael Lalor