Pathway to Citizenship for Undocumented Immigrants is Back in the Legislative Sphere

On July 20, 2017, Senators Lindsey Graham (R-SC) and Dick Durbin (D-IL) introduced the DREAM Act of 2017, a bill that would provide certain immigrants who were brought to the United States as children with a pathway to legalized status and eventual citizenship.

The bill, S. 1615, comes after ten state attorneys general threatened to sue the Trump Administration over the continuation of the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) Program, an Executive Order under the Obama administration which grants deportation relief and access to work permits and drivers licenses to over 800,000 “DREAMers.” On June 16, 2017, the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) announced in a statement that the DACA program would remain in effect.

The DREAM Act would apply to DREAMers only if they graduate from high school or earn a GED, pursue higher education, work lawfully for at least three years or serve in the military, pass background checks and demonstrate proficiency in English and a knowledge of U.S. history. The DREAM Act would build upon the protections that DACA already provides for certain undocumented immigrants, allowing them to not only participate in American society but also work towards eventual citizenship.

Jewish tradition is clear on the treatment of undocumented immigrants. Leviticus commands, “When strangers sojourn with you in your land, you shall not do them wrong. The strangers who sojourn with you shall be to you as the natives among you, and you shall love them as yourself; for you were strangers in the land of Egypt” (19:33-34). This teaching permeates Jewish tradition and is echoed 35 times in the Torah – the most repeated of any commandment.

Undocumented Immigrants and their families are woven into the fabric of our society and play a valuable role in our communities and nation at large. The DREAM Act would allow these valuable community members the chance to reside permanently and legally in the country they view as home, and that is a very exciting prospect.

Immigration Justice

About the Author

Max Antman

Max Antman (he/him) is a fifth-year rabbinical student at Hebrew Union College – Jewish Institute of Religion in Los Angeles. Prior to beginning his studies, Max worked as a community organizer and legislative staffer at the Religious Action Center of Reform Judaism and the United Nations Foundation in Washington D.C, where he focused on issues of racial equity, global health advocacy, LGBTQIA+ equality and immigration. Max is a trained diversity, equity and inclusion consultant, and has facilitated training courses for communities and organizations in the areas of anti-bias, cross-cultural dialogue, whiteness and white supremacy. Originally from Evanston, Illinois, Max attended the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign where he graduated with a Bachelor of Arts in Political Science and minored in English and Jewish Culture and Society. Max is passionate about the interplay between Judaism and policy, and is committed to creating accessible and inclusive Jewish spaces in the United States and elsewhere.

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