Passage of the DREAM Act has been voted one of the top ten agenda items for the Obama administration by members of change.org. The DREAM Act proposal is the only higher education campaign to make the cut.

According to its change.org sponsors, the DREAM (Development, Relief, and Education for Alien Minors) Act would open a pathway to citizenship for undocumented immigrants under the age of 30 who…

  • were brought to the United States before they turned 16,
  • have lived here continuously for five years,
  • graduated from a US high school or obtained a GED
  • have good moral character with no criminal record, and
  • attend college or enlist in the military. 

Here’s an article on the campaign to get the DREAM Act into the top ten and a link to DreamActivist, a site that supports passage of the bill.

President-elect Obama is on record in support of the DREAM Act. A statement of support he provided to the Hispanic Association of Colleges and Universities last year follows the jump…

“Our immigration policy should be legal, orderly, humane, and safe. And we should give immigrant children the chance to attend college. I supported and helped pass the Illinois state version of the DREAM Act, and I have worked hard with Senator Durbin to move the federal version of the bill through the Senate. I believe that all students, regardless of national origin, deserve an equal opportunity to a high quality public education. Under current law, students who were brought to the United States years ago as undocumented immigrant children and who have stayed and excelled in and out of school have no hope of attending college with affordable in-state tuition.”

–Barack Obama, January 2008