Last Wednesday I attended GRF Esmeralda’s presentation on the DREAM Act, DACA, and the controversy that surrounds those topics. Being Hispanic, these are some topics that get featured a lot on Spanish news. Though I had some knowledge on the topics based off from what I’ve watched on Spanish news before coming to Cornell and during school breaks , I must say that I found Esmeralda’s presentation very informative.

DREAMers are basically students who were brought to the US illegally by their parents when they were young. They’ve spent their whole life here but they can’t apply for financial aid because of their legal status. Besides education, DREAMERs face other limitations due to their legal status such as: getting a driver’s license or an official ID. I think that the limitations that DREAMers face should be things that citizens should not take for granted. One of the the things that gets stressed a lot in Spanish news is how a lot of Hispanic students don’t make it to college mainly because they can’t get financial aid. Both the DREAM Act and DACA ( Delayed Action for Childhood arrivals) are a step in the right direction to helping out DREAMers. Opposition to these laws basically classifies them as amnesty. I don’t know too much about amnesty but the last time I heard it was in middle school and my understanding back then was that undocumented immigrants who came to the US at a certain point in time were forgiven for their “crime” and granted a legal status.

Overall, I thought that the presentation was great and I really like how it touched upon a controversial topic that I’ve followed on Spanish TV. I do think that the DREAM Act and DACA are a great stepping stone in helping out those who consider the US their home. These undocumented youths have established their life in the US and I think that being denied basic things that only citizens are eligible for is almost as though they are being stripped of something that should also be theirs.