The New York State Development, Relief and Education for Alien Minors Act, otherwise known as the DREAM Act, has been passed by the New York Assembly. The comprehensive immigration reform measure offers financial aid in order to help educate immigrant youths, with the New York Assembly being the New York State Legislature’s lower house, made up of 150 members representing an equal amount of the state’s districts that have an average populace of around 128,652.
Assembly members are allowed to serve two-year terms without any limits. The passage of the DREAM Act was announced by the Assembly, which explained that the amount of young immigrant students who lack access to higher education in New York results in many of them unable to go to school either straight away or sometimes permanently.
Assembly members feel that the DREAM Act can correct this injustice by making sure that every student, regardless of their legal status, will be able to earn a college degree with the help of state sponsored assistance. DREAM Act supporters believe that financial aid for immigrant students will allow them to be competitive in the employment market, which is more and more insistent on a college education.
Sheldon Silver, the New York Assembly’s president, says that the budget for the DREAM Act will include almost $30 million, which has been criticized by those who are against using taxpayer’s money to pay to educate undocumented immigrants. The Act now awaits approval in the New York state Senate.