The DREAM ACT

In June 2012, President Obama announced that his administration would stop deporting illegal immigrants who match certain criteria previously proposed under the DREAM ACT. The DREAM ACT stands for Development, Relief, and Education for Alien Minors. In an article in The Daily Texan, titled " Should I keep DREAMing?", Manuel Ramirez, an international relations and global studies sophomore at The University of Texas at Austin, writes about his personal experience as an undocumented illegal immigrant and how he believes this issue still needs more attention to solve the problem of around 11 million undocumented immigrants.

In this opinion based article, Manuel Ramirez is writing to inform the general public of a very important current topic that is affecting millions of people in America. As a person who is currently an illegal immigrant living with the fear of possibly getting deported or seeing his friends and family be deported, Ramirez gives great insight into this issue. In his argument, Ramirez states that he is happy with the steps the current administration is taking towards the immigration problem, but that he believes this decision was made only as a political strategy to help President Obama secure more votes from Latinos. Ramirez goes on to say that while he is currently pleased with his situation, this political move is only a short-term solution and that the immigration problem will require much more attention to find a permanent working solution.

I agree with nearly everything Manuel has to say in this article. I feel that President Obama's decision to announce that he would be implementing parts of the DREAM ACT was strictly a political move. This decision is undoubtedly a short-term solution. With 11 million undocumented immigrants, this problem will require lots of time and attention to be solved.