A Migration Policy Institute study found that 125,000 illegal aliens reach the age of 18 each year, and 98,000 graduate high school. When MPI last studied the so-called “Dreamer” population in 2003, 80,000 reached the age of 18 each year and 98,000 graduated high school each year.
MPI researchers said that the states graduating the largest number of illegal aliens were California (27,000), Texas (17,000), and Florida (5,000). The top 15 graduating states account for about 81 percent of all graduates.
Those participating in the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) program are a subset of the “Dreamer” population. To qualify for DACA an illegal alien must have, among other things, earned a high school diploma or its equivalent. President Trump terminated DACA in 2017 but a number of court orders kept it alive for beneficiaries renewing their participation, not new applicants. So those graduating high school now who arrived in the U.S. by 2007 and met other requirements cannot apply for DACA.
Congress has considered but not passed legislation to legalize the DACA population, which now stands at about 680,000, or a broader population of “Dreamers.” Two bills in Congress now -- the American Dream and Promise Act (H.R. 6) and the Dream Act (S. 874) – would legalize that broader population and those graduating high school. Neither bill has an upper-age limit or end date for the amnesty, so illegal aliens who do not yet meet the academic requirements, but meet the residency requirements, can become eligible someday.
Read more in The Washington Times.
