Heavier than the books Mariano Cardoso had to carry to class at Capital Community College in Hartford, Conn., was the weight of the deportation order he lived with for nearly three years. Recently, the 23-year-old not only graduated with an associate degree in liberal arts, but he had the order of removal lifted thanks to a hard-fought, high-profile campaign.
“I feel finally free because I had always had that on my mind — that at any time I could be deported. And [carrying] that idea around … really restricted me [from] focusing on whatever I wanted to do,” says the Mexican immigrant whose family brought him to the United States when he was 22 months old.
With the help of his community; Connecticut Gov. Daniel P. Malloy; U.S. Sen. Joe Lieberman, I-Conn.; and U.S. Sen. Richard Blumenthal, D-Conn.; and a lengthy petition, Cardoso had the deportation order halted. He says the process shouldn’t be this arduous for students like him — dubbed DREAMers — who would be eligible for the DREAM Act if it passed.
The DREAM Act would grant undocumented immigrants who were 16 years old or younger when they came to the United States a path to legal status and, eventually, citizenship if they enroll in college or the military. Despite support from President Barack Obama, the bill has languished in Congress for a decade.
Adam Luna, political director for the pro-immigration reform group America’s Voice, says outcomes like Cardoso’s should be the norm, not a rare occurrence.
“What advocates are saying is, ‘Why can’t you do that for most people,’” he says.
GOP gains in Congress in 2010 dashed the DREAM Act’s hopes for passage yet again, but Act advocates have been drumming up support for alternative measures to keep undocumented students in the country. Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, D-Nev., and 21 other senators expressed support for alternative measures in an April 13 letter to Obama, noting that Obama can grant “deferred action” for the deportation of DREAMers.
