Dream Vs Nightmare
by digby
This story from DKos yesterday just makes my heart hurt:
Our nation’s immigration system is so dysfunctional that a Harvard biology major, a stellar student who dreams of curing cancer, is being threatened with deportation by the Department of Homeland Security.
Eric Balderas was detained earlier this month while trying to board a flight back to Harvard. He had gone home to visit his mother in San Antonio, who fled Mexico to escape domestic abuse when he was only four years old. In the United States since then, and valedictorian of his San Antonio high school, Balderas has no memory of his Mexican birthplace. Eric’s first language is English, and he does not speak Spanish well.
The story of Eric Balderas illustrates the perversity of our current failed immigration policy. Currently, Eric is considered a criminal by the government of the United States. Harvard University considers Eric a promising sophomore.
Eric’s story underscores the need for Congress to pass the DREAM Act immediately – it makes you wonder what objections any Member of Congress could possibly have to embracing Eric and thousands of other young people who are Americans in all but paperwork. The Balderas story, as well as hundreds of other of similar examples, is a perfect example of why Congress should pass the DREAM Act without further delay.
Come on. This is just stupid. And heartless. Imagine how any of us would feel if we were forced to live in a foreign country against our will because of a technicality that was violated by our parents when we were babies. That’s essentially what’s happening to this kid and to many thousands of kids who had no say in where they were born and have lived in America their whole lives.
Sadly, the nativists have already moved the goalposts and are persuading a large number of people that we should deny even those kids who were born here legal citizenship, so I don’t have a whole lot of hope that this is going anywhere. Too bad for the human wreckage, but apparently we have to appease a bunch of cowards who would rather blame little children for their problems than the real culprits. It’s an old and depressing story.
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