Senators, Dreamers Do not want to hear Words They Want to See Action In the New York Times opinion article, “Senators Dreamers Have Been Watching You”, Antonio Alarcon criticizes the lack of effective legislation being proposed by senators to not only protect Dreamers but also their immigrant families who also deserve to stay in this country. He argues that he is not willing to accept any legislative fix that would give Dreamers the chance to stay in this country legally while their families are being targeted by ICE and being deported back to their countries of origin. Recently the Dreamer issue has been featured in the national spotlight due to the actions taken by our current president to end the DACA program which allows mostly students who were brought to this country illegally by their parents at a young age to come out of the shadows and stay here legally. The Dreamer issue is an important one that every person living in this country today should care about. Since this country was founded it has always claim to be a nation of immigrants where everyone can realize their American Dream. While some might continue to assert that this country is a melting pot where legal status is irrelevant, there are troubling actions being taken by our leaders that prove that this is no longer the case. In recent years immigrants have begun to be treated as second-class citizens who are made felt like they have no place in American society. Our own president has made immigrants into scapegoats and convinced many Americans that immigrants are to blame for many of the problems this nation is now facing. Yes, it is true that immigrants have broken the law by entering this country illegally but that does not mean they should be treated as mere criminals. It is completely unethical to use immigrants as scapegoats, especially after all the positive contributions some of them have made to this country over the years. That is why one could argue that without the immigrant community America would have never become the global power it now is. To guaranteed that America continues to be a diverse society and an exemplary global power, the people of this nation need to realize that immigrants are not the problem and that allowing them to stay in this country which has become their only home is the humane thing to do. The lives of millions of people depend on the actions taken by our leaders, the decisions that will be made by our government will also say a lot about the type of nation we want to be. So far, the Senate has received many proposals and bills which could potentially help resolve the status of Dreamers and perhaps allow them to stay in the only country they have known their whole lives. However, in the opinion article Alarcon himself writes “I couldn’t accept a deal that protected me while criminalizing so many others — from my colleagues to my aunts and uncles. I couldn’t accept a deal that made it harder for immigrants to bring th...
