Policy Order O-6

WHEREAS: The City of Cambridge and the United States were founded by immigrants, who have traveled from around the world to seek a better life; and

WHEREAS: Our nation's immigration system should uphold our basic values of family, economic opportunity, and fairness; and

WHEREAS: The U.S. immigration system, which has torn apart families, created long backlogs for legal visas, and produced a undocumented population of twelve million immigrants is broken and is in dire need of comprehensive reform; and

WHEREAS: Among these undocumented immigrants are hundreds of thousands of young people who were brought to the U.S. while they were children to be with their parents; and

WHEREAS: 65,000 undocumented students graduate from high schools throughout the U.S. each year; and

WHEREAS: Many of these youths have excelled in school, worked hard to fund their studies and support their families, and become leaders in their communities; and

WHEREAS: These youths are highly motivated to continue with their education (with many doing so despite being ineligible for federal financial aid) or to serve our nation as members of the U.S. Armed Forces; and

WHEREAS: Despite their excellent academic records and contributions to the community, these youths are in constant peril of being identified, detained, and deported by the U.S. Department of Homeland Security; and

WHEREAS: One such youth, Cambridge-resident Eric Balderas who came to the U.S. when he was four, works full-time to pay for school and support his family, volunteers with several community organizations, and is now enrolled at Harvard College with hopes of becoming a medical researcher, faced removal from the U.S. on June 15, 2010, after being identified while visiting his mother in Texas; and

WHEREAS: 39 U.S. Senators and 124 U.S. Representatives have co-sponsored the Development, Relief and Education for Alien Minors (DREAM) Act, a bipartisan proposal that would enable many of these students, including Eric Balderas, to earn legal status, continue with their educations, and pursue careers that would enable them to further contribute to their new home country; and

WHEREAS: Our city and our country can only benefit if youths like Eric Balderas can become legal, continue with their studies, and further develop as workers and leaders; and

WHEREAS: Students like Eric Balderas should be allowed to remain in the U.S. while the DREAM Act is under consideration, lest they lose their opportunity to ultimately gain legal status and pursue their education in the U.S. if they were deported; now therefore be it

RESOLVED: That the City Council go on record supporting the DREAM Act, and calling upon the U.S. Department of Homeland Security to halt the removal of Eric Balderas and all other young immigrant students who would be eligible to gain legal status under DREAM or other comprehensive immigration reform proposals while such legislation is under consideration in the U.S. Congress; and

RESOLVED: That a suitably engrossed copy of this resolution be forwarded to President Barack Obama, Department of Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano, Senator Scott Brown, Senator John Kerry, and Congressman Capuano on behalf of the entire City Council.