NALEO Applauds Bipartisan Effort to Stop Deporting Students

WASHINGTON--(Business Wire)--
The National Association of Latino Elected and Appointed Officials (NALEO)
Educational Fund issued the following statement regarding a request to halt the
deportations of young students:

"We applaud the actions of Senator Richard Durbin (D- IL) and Senator Richard
Lugar (R-IN) asking Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano to stop
deporting students eligible for the Development, Relief and Education for Alien
Minors (DREAM) Act.

"This request is made by a Democrat and a Republican - this not a political
issue, but one of allowing students with great potential to contribute fully to
our country. The NALEO Educational Fund believes that hard-working immigrant
students must have a meaningful opportunity to pursue their education."

The DREAM Act allows select immigrant students a path to legalization and
citizenship if they meet certain requirements, including pursuing a college
degree.

"In their letter to Secretary Napolitano, Sens. Durbin and Lugar reiterate that
it is DHS immigration enforcement policy to pursue `the worst of the worst` and
that DREAM Act students do not fall under that category. We wholeheartedly
agree.

"Halting the deportation of DREAM Act students is one step toward ensuring that
our nation`s immigration policies recognize the economic and social
contributions of newcomers, and we urge the Administration to implement this
policy immediately. It will take much more to fix our broken immigration system.
It is time for the president and Congress to work this year to make
comprehensive immigration reform a reality."

ABOUT NALEO Educational Fund

The NALEO Educational Fund is the nation's leading non-partisan, non-profit
organization that facilitates the full participation of Latinos in the American
political process, from citizenship to public service.

NALEO
Patricia Guadalupe, 202-546-2536
202-509-6316 (cell)
pguadalupe@naleo.org

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