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In the past few weeks, I have read reports bemoaning the decrease in work skills of the American workforce. Some reports state that the millennial generation lacks work ethics and soft skills. Other reports warn that the U.S. needs more young entrepreneurs who will create the technology and industries of the future.

On the heels of these reports comes the news story of Dario Guerrero, a Harvard junior who was brought illegally by his parents to the U.S. from Mexico at age of 2.

Dario was an exceptional student, and by 13 had earned a scholarship to Johns Hopkins University summer school. After finishing high school, he was accepted, as an undocumented person, to Harvard where he currently majors in Visual and Environmental Studies.

Under President Barack Obamas Dream Act, Dario was granted temporary reprieve from being deported. People participating in this program are restricted from leaving the U.S. while their case is being reviewed.

Last year, Darios mother began suffering the severe effects of kidney cancer. When the cancer treatments in the U.S. stopped working, he and his family, desperate for anything that might save his mother, took her to a clinic in Mexico for experimental treatment. Sadly, this did not work and she died last August in Mexico. Dario, who left the country contrary to the rules of the Dream Act, was denied re-entry to the U.S. and was forced to stay with his grandparents in Mexico City. After the press picked up the story of his plight, he was finally granted a visa a couple of weeks ago and allowed to come back to the U.S. He will resume studies at Harvard next semester.

Dario Guerrero stands on the rooftop of his grandparents home in the outskirts of Mexico City. Guerrero, a Harvard University junior, accompanied his dying mother to Mexico without government permission and until recently was unable to return to the United States. (The Associated Press)

I, like many people, am fatigued by the inability of the president and Congress to address immigration reform, and no concrete action or viable plans are being implemented. In reality, complexity is not what is delaying any progress on this issue, but rather politics. Like many other issues, immigration reform has become absorbed in the gridlock of Washington, D.C., politics a political football that can be punted to make the other side look bad. The Dream Act is a temporary patch that can serve to show the inadequacy of how the U.S. is addressing immigration reform, as the Dario case plainly demonstrates.

Isnt a student who is talented enough to be accepted to both Johns Hopkins University and Harvard precisely the type of intelligent and ambitious young person that the U.S. needs to keep our nation productive, successful and able to compete in the global market? We constantly hear employers complaining about the labor issues and economists complaining about the need for new entrepreneurial ventures. So, what is wrong with this picture?

The current law is the law, and it should be obeyed pertaining to illegal entry into the U.S. However, a 2-year-old child has no concept of right or wrong or the existence of a law. What does the U.S. do if kids are brought to the U.S. illegally by their parents, and then proceed to be upstanding elements of U.S. society, living in the shadows of the only country they really know?

The rest is here:
Immigration mess nets Harvard student