Barry Smith - In the Loop

Members of the North Carolina DREAM Team are hopeful that a recent Congressional Budget Office report showing that passage of the act would boost federal revenues by $2.3 billion over the next 10 years will help convince Sen. Kay Hagan and others to support the measure.

“The DREAM Act assists in balancing the budget,” said Domenic Powell, a member of the DREAM Team, a group pushing for passage of a bill that would provide a pathway for legal residency and citizenship for children who came to the United States with their parents when they entered the country without authorization.

The proposed act could come up during the lame-duck session of Congress. Senate Majority Whip Dick Durbin, D-Ill., predicted that the bill would be brought up for a vote on the Senate floor next week, according to The Hill.

DREAM is an acronym for The Development, Relief and Education for Alien Minors. It would give conditional residency status to such immigrants who are of good moral character for 10 years (which was recently changed from six years). During that time, the immigrants must have graduated or completed at least two years toward a bachelor’s degree or must have served in the armed forces for at least two years.

Three Latina women who are members of the DREAM Team and entered the United States with their parents staged a hunger strike in downtown Raleigh back in the summer.

Powell said that the Congressional Budget Office report is important because it will give Hagan and other lawmakers who have worried about the act’s effect on the budget some cover. He said that the act would allow the immigrants to become more productive. That would give them higher incomes. They would pay taxes on that income.

Supporters of three Latina women on a hunger strike said health and safety concerns prompted them to end their two-week fast Monday night.

“The medical situation was getting pretty dangerous, as well as safety concerns,” said Domenic Powell, one of the N.C. Dream Team members who has kept a blog of their efforts.

One of the strikers, Loida Silva, fell ill was taken to the hospital Sunday night after suffering an apparent heat stroke.

Powell also said that the strikers had been contacted by someone known to be a sexual predator.

“It was becoming more apparent that it was wise not to proceed forward in that way,” Powell said.

Silva is doing well, Powell said, adding that the Dream Team is glad to see all three back home.

The N.C. Dream Team was formed earlier this year to support the federal DREAM Act. DREAM is an acronym for Development, Relief and Education for Alien Minors. It would allow the children of illegal immigrants to gain temporary legal status while they attend college or go into the military. Then they could begin the process of citizenship.

The strikers have yet to succeed in one of their goals. They weren’t able to get a commitment from U.S. Sen. Kay Hagan, D-N.C., to sign on as a cosponsor of the DREAM Act.

Hagan said that she supports considering aspects of the DREAM Act as a part of comprehensive immigration reform.

Powell said that the act should be considered separately, since there’s a greater likelihood of getting the DREAM Act passed than comprehensive immigration reform.

“It’s like saying you’re going to win a baseball game by hitting home runs,” Powell said. He said the DREAM Act had more bipartisan support than comprehensive immigration reform.

They feel like the hunger strike, which lasted two weeks, did advance their cause.

“I think it brought a lot of awareness to the DREAM Act and immigration reform in general,” said Powell, a recent UNC Chapel Hill graduate who now lives in Carrboro. “There’s been a lot of discussion of comprehensive immigration reform.”

Powell said that the Dream Team would continue to raise awareness about the act.

“We’re all very excited to be moving forward together,” Powell said.