TIRRC is in the process of convening youth leaders from around the state, to form a TN Dream Act team capable of lobbying our members of Congress to vote YES for the DREAM ACT this year!

If you're interested, let us know.

[click here for a fact sheet on the Dream Act]

Every year, tens of thousands of America’s brightest high-school graduates are prevented from pursuing dreams of a college education and a better future. These students, many of whom are valedictorians, honor students, class presidents, or student leaders, have had to overcome numerous barriers in order to succeed. Many were brought to this country as young children and have lived here almost their entire lives, but because they don’t have immigration papers, they face limited prospects for completing their education and working legally in the US.

These talented young men and women represent some of the best that America has to offer. Our nation cannot afford to squander its most precious human resources. Please support legislation in Congress that:

• Permits undocumented students who graduate from high school to apply for legal residency; and
• Allows these students to pay affordable, in-state tuition at public colleges and universities in their home state.

Please support the DREAM Act. Passage of such legislation is good for families and rewards the hard work of students who have succeeded despite tough odds. These students epitomize the American dream—let’s bring them into the fold!

Why Tennesseans Should Support the DREAM Act

1. Gives hard-working, bright immigrant students a chance at a college education.

• Every year, scores of students in Tennessee find the door to continuing their education shut due to their immigration status. Although difficult to calculate, the number of students in Tennessee who face this reality is probably over one thousand. These students generally had no choice in deciding to come to the United States, following in the footsteps of their parents.
• These students have excelled in Tennessee high schools, only to find college out of reach due to the high tuition rates they are charged because of their immigration status.
• These students have long resided in our communities, but they are charged exorbitant out-of-state and foreign student tuition rates to attend college here because of their immigration status. Nearly all are from tax-paying families that have long resided in the U.S.
• They are only asking for the same chance as their classmates at a college education.

2. Good for our communities, our state and our country

• With a college education affordable to these students, our communities, states, and nation would reap significant benefits, including reduced high school dropout rates, savings in criminal justice system and public benefits costs, and increased revenue from taxes paid by these educated immigrants.
• The fiscal contributions of these immigrants would pay back our education investment within 3-4 years of their working, by conservative estimates.
• Alan Greenspan and other economists warn that, over the next several decades, the US faces a dramatic labor crunch as our baby boomers retire and our birth rate declines. These immigrant students are a ready and willing part of that solution, if we only allow them to further their educations and obtain legal employment.
• High school guidance counselors, university presidents, elected officials, and community leaders support the DREAM Act because they can see the real benefit it would have on their young people’s futures

Dreams Deferred: The Costs of Ignoring Undocumented Students

The political debate over undocumented immigrants in the United States has largely ignored the plight of undocumented children who, for the most part, have grown up and received much of their primary and secondary education in this country.

(9/27/07)