LI activists dismayed by defeat of Dream Act

Activists in Long Island's Hispanic and Asian communities expressed dismay Sunday at the defeat of the Dream Act, and doubt that Congress will pass comprehensive immigration reform within two years.

The U.S. Senate shot down the Development, Relief and Education for Alien Minors Act on Saturday. The act would have forged a path to citizenship for undocumented immigrants who came to the United States as children.

Some opponents of the bill had argued that it was tantamount to amnesty for illegal immigrants. But Luz Torres, director of Oyster Bay's Centro Cultural Hispano, said that giving undocumented students a path to citizenship would ultimately benefit the local economy by helping them obtain legal jobs with taxable wages.

"They close the door to too many people," Torres said. "It's like they don't want to give people the opportunity to grow."

Habeeb Ahmed, head of the board at the Islamic Center of Long Island in Westbury, said the Dream Act's failure makes it impossible for undocumented immigrants from South Asia to aid in the United States' war in Afghanistan. He added he is doubtful that Congress, with a Republican-controlled House, will pass immigration reform.

"It is a big mess, immigration reform," Ahmed said. "It is a very sensitive subject."

The Dream Act would have given undocumented immigrants a chance to earn legal status if they entered the United States before age 16, had been in the country for five years and attended college or served in the military for two years.

The Rev. Allan Ramirez of Brookville Reformed Church called the act's defeat "nothing new." He said he does not see such legislation establishing a path to citizenship ever passing, saying, "It's still too convenient to keep a large group of people as second-class citizens."

Suffolk County Executive Steve Levy, an outspoken opponent of illegal immigration, said the requirement that prospective citizens attend college was one of the act's flaws.

"Every slot in our taxpayer-funded state colleges that goes to an undocumented student is a slot not going to our youngsters who are here legally," he said.

Indeed, not everyone in Long Island's immigrant community was upset over the act's failure. Tahir Qureshi, board chairman of a Selden mosque whose members include immigrants from Pakistan and Afghanistan, said he feared the act would "encourage more people to enter illegally."