The Dream Act was basically an initiative to relieve education for alien minors. That they would be able to achieve higher education if they so chose. They are exactly defined as undocumented youth with a GED or high school diploma, under the age of 30, good moral standing, and have been in the U.S. for five consecutive years. The term doca and dreamer which are often used to characterize undocumented youth come from pieces of legislation or policy. However, some dreamers reject the narrative that the Dream Act pushed because they feel that it is a narrow depiction of their experience and who they are. Furthermore, it also attributes blame to their parents, and of course criminalizing their parents would definitely be a cause for concern for the undocumented youth. The Dream Act eventually failed in 2010, and Doca was a policy put in place that gave undocumented youth marginal rights, such as a work permit.

An interesting point that was brought up was the connections between the Civil Rights struggle and the undocumented youth struggle. The undocumented youth draw many parallels and often follow the strategies and organizing of those used during the Civil Rights Era. This point relates back to what I am learning in class in Intro to Asian American Studies, a lot of the protests of other minority groups have adopted the model African-Americans initiated. And it is interesting to see that the Civil Rights Era had such an impact on all minority groups as a whole, and not just African-Americans.