Senate Immigration Reform Bill will Benefit DREAMers

Citizens of foreign countries who were brought to the United States as minors and those who have been living in the United States right from their childhood as undocumented immigrants are the DREAMers and the DREAMers always wanted the country to pass the DREAM Act that would give them a chance to obtain US citizenship and there are more than 2 million DREAMers in the United States.

However, the Senate immigration reform bill, the Border Security, Economic Opportunity and Immigration Modernization Act, that the senators have unveiled will benefit the DREAMers and help them to achieve lawful status in America. In order to help the DREAMers to study and work in America, President Obama implemented the deferred action program in August 2012 and that program currently postpones the deportation of eligible DREAMers who apply for it. However, it is only a two year reprieve and it is not a permanent solution and so the DREAMers are not happy about the deferred action program.

The Senate immigration bill contains a long term solution and if this bill is passed, the DREAMers will be able to obtain lawful status within five years. But to become lawful residents, they must first obtain Registered Provisional Immigrant status (RPI). Five years after obtaining this status, they can apply for Green Cards and become lawful residents. According to the Senate immigration bill, DREAMers are the foreign nationals who were brought or smuggled into America before they turned 15 and who are high school graduates and who seek to pursue higher education in America.

This immigration bill will permit such DREAMers to apply for lawful status within five years while the other undocumented immigrants will have to wait for ten years to apply for permanent resident status. Followed by that, they can apply for US citizenship and this also applies to the DREAMers who are above age 30. Likewise, while applying for RPI status, undocumented immigrants must pay a $500 fine but the DREAMers may not be required to pay that penalty and they may pay lesser than the others while applying for legal status.

DREAMers who were deported from the United States can apply for Registered Provisional Immigrant status, if they were not removed from the country for criminal reasons and they can re-enter the country. This bill will also cancel the anti-immigrant laws of certain American states that prevent undocumented immigrants from receiving state benefits.