Analyzing the Dream

Abstract

The Development, Relief, and Education for Alien Minors Act, otherwise known as the DREAM Act, is a proposed bill under consideration in the US Congress that would give undocumented immigrant minors greater access to higher education opportunities while also providing them with a path to achieving full and legal citizenship. The bill was first introduced in 2001 and is now being reintroduced with new amendments in 2009. My research will center on questions regarding the social and economic effects that this proposed bill would have on the undocumented students if it were passed. Specifically, I plan to investigate the potential consequences of this bill in the country by examining case studies of California, Maryland and Virginia with respect to: a) increases in higher education levels and admissions, and b) economic opportunities. My research will center on a policy-analysis in a non-empirical format. I will mostly use qualitative methods of research, although I will collect and analyze some data and statistics on the undocumented community in the aforementioned states.