FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Gaby Pacheco | [email protected] | 202-445-7376
TheDream.US Statement on the Introduction of the Dream Act of 2017
TheDream.US applauds the efforts of Senators Durbin and Graham for introducing a legislative solution for DREAMers. This education focused legislation will provide DREAMers an opportunity to adjust their immigration status.
In 2013, in the absence of an educational legislation that would allow DREAMers access to college (including access to financial aid, loans, and in some states in-state tuition), TheDream.US was created. TheDream.US is the nation’s largest college access and success scholarship program for DREAMers with DACA and TPS. Our founders believed that our country was at risk of losing a generation of highly motivated students eager to contribute to America’s ongoing prosperity. Through the generous donations of private funds, TheDream.US has committed, thus far, over $100M in scholarship funds to support over 3,000 DREAMers in pursuing their dreams of a college education.
There are 2.1 million undocumented young adults who have lived in this country from a very young age. Over 780,000 of them have DACA – which gives them protection of deportation and work authorization. These highly motivated young people have attended our primary and secondary schools. They are our neighbors and friends and many want nothing more than a college education that will enable them to give back to this country – the country they call home.
We are proud to work with a community of over seventy-five Partner Colleges, national and local organizations, generous donors, and concerned individuals who join us in our belief that all children living in this country – regardless of their immigration status – deserve the opportunity of a college education.
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About TheDream.US
Co-founded by former Washington Post chairman Donald Graham; finance chief of the Democratic National Committee, Henry R. Muñoz III; former Secretary of Commerce for President George W. Bush, Carlos Gutierrez; and Pulitzer Prize-winning investigative journalist Amanda Bennett, TheDream.US is the nation’s largest college access and success program for DREAMers. Its goal is to enable over 4,000 highly motivated DREAMers to graduate with career-ready degrees over the course of the next decade.