Raised in the U.S., but still illegal

by Preston, Julia
New York Times
Pages 8 to 9
March 15Th

An honors student at Harold Washington College named Rigoberto Padilla was arrested January, 2009. Why? Because he ran a red light? But as you'll soon see the plot thickens. It was then discovered that Rigoberto was illegally brought to America when he was 6. The Migration Policy Institute estimates that over 1,000,000 people have done the same as Rigoberto. According to the article on January 4th, immigrants from Miami Dade College started four months worth of walking. Their route was from Miami to Washington D.C. as a protest to the lacking of granting legal status to illegal immigrants. The four were quoted saying they have a "deep desire for complete citizenship." The four are doing this "citizenship walk" because they have hit dead ends in their jobs because they lack in legal status. They walk for a passage of legislation called the "Dream Act". The Dream Act will provide citezenship to the illegal immigrants who came to the U.S. when they were under sixteen, graduate from high schools in America, and who do two years of college or do service in the military. The national coordinator of We Dream, Carlos Saaverda said this "maybe our parents feel like immigrants, but we feel like Americans because we have been raised here on American values."


In my opinion I don't really get why there really needs to be citizenship and things like that. From my point of view it seems like someone can only be from the place they were first. It's like moving from Ohio to New Jersey, and then you can't find a job because everyone says "sorry you have different nationality." Why do immigrants need the governments permission to live in the U.S.? I can't think of one reason it's a law.

1. Why do you think people might want proof of citizenship in everyday lifestyles.

2. Why "other than jobs and school" do you think that immigrants might want citizenship.