Just a few feet from the FleetCenter,
about 40 immigrant leaders from across the country met to call for the
immediate passage of legislation that would permit illegal immigrant
students access to college. The members of different advocacy
coalitions said more than 65,000 students, mostly Hispanics, graduate
from American high schools every year but cannot attend college because
they were originally brought to the country by parents lacking a legal
immigration status. The proposed legislation -- known as Dream Act
(Development, Relief and Education relief to Alien Minors) -- would
eliminate the federal provisions that discourage states from providing
in-state tuition to these students. "We are talking about people who
have been in this country for a long time, who pay their taxes, who
work hard, who contribute to the U.S. economy, and still live in
shadows," said Eliseo Medina, vice president of Service Employees
International Union (SEIU), the largest immigrant union in the country.
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