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To the editor:

Anybody whos lived in America for any amount of time has probably heard debate about our immigration policy.

Some think that we should completely seal the borders, and send all immigrants back to their native country, while others think that we should relax border security and allow an easier path to citizenship.

The Illegal Immigration Reform and Immigrant Responsibility Act of 1996 placed strict limitations on undocumented immigrants if they had been in the U.S. 180 to 365 days and left, they cant return for a year. If theyre in this country for more than a year and they leave, theyre barred from entry for a decade unless they have a waiver.

If they enter without a waiver, they need to wait another decade to get a waiver. This was in an attempt to tighten border control and security, and yet, illegal border crossings continued.

And not all of those who came into the U.S. chose to come, nor were they in control. Yet they still faced the same dangers of deportation and the same bars from many aspects of life. Who were these people? Children.

To combat this, in 2001 Congress passed the Development, Relief, and Education for Alien Minors (DREAM) Act. This was a revolutionary act. It stated that undocumented children who had come to theU.S. under the age of 16 could get higher education, something that would have previously been much harder to attain.

It also stated that if the person in question met a certain set of criteria, the attorney general could close the case for their deportation. This added a safety net for undocumented immigrants, but in a few years, even more protection was awaiting the undocumented children of America.

2012 was a monumental year for immigration policy in theU.S. for one reason: DACA. Introduced as an executive order from then-President Obama, DACA promised to give a stable place in America to hundreds of thousands of undocumented minors.

Despite its importance, many people are still fairly uneducated about immigration in the U.S. So I think it's important that we as a community take the time to learn and educate ourselves about immigration.

One of the best ways we can help those seeking a life in this country is to take ourselves out of blissful ignorance and to become better advocates for those who cannot speak for themselves, or have been silenced.

Katherine Daignault

Newburyport

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LETTER: Getting educated about immigration | Letters To The Editor | newburyportnews.com - The Daily News of Newburyport