The second round of voting has begun at Change.org for the top ten ideas for change that will be presented on January 16th in Washington D.C. at a joint event with the National Press Club.

What is Ideas for Change in America?

Ideas for Change in America is a citizen-driven project that aims to identify and create momentum around the best ideas for how the Obama Administration and 111th Congress can turn the broad call for "change" across the country into specific policies.

The project was created in the wake of the 2008 Presidential Election in response to President-elect Barack Obama's call for increased civic participation in America. It is not connected to the Obama campaign or the administration.

Promigrant/pro-human rights activists were able to mobilize in great numbers to vault the DREAM Act to this next round, but we need your help to make sure it gets to the final list. Here is an excerpt of the submission:

Pass the DREAM Act - Support Higher Education for All Students

The problem: Many American students graduate from college and high school each year, and face a roadblock to their dreams: they can't drive, can't work legally, can't further their education, and can't pay taxes to contribute to the economy just because they were brought to this country illegally by their parents or lost legal status along the way. It is a classic case of lost potential and broken dreams, and the permanent underclass of youth it creates is detrimental to our economy. Former Republican Sen. Orrin Hatch has said: "In short, although these children have built their lives here, they have no possibility of achieving and living the American dream. What a tremendous loss for them, and what a tremendous loss to our society."

The solution: The federal DREAM Act (Development, Relief, and Education for Alien Minors Act), is a bipartisan legislation that would permit these students conditional legal status and eventual citizenship granted that they meet ALL the following requirements:

• if they were brought to the United States before they turned 16, are below the age of 30,
  
• have lived here continuously for five years,
  
• graduated from a U.S. high school or obtained a GED
  
• have good moral character with no criminal record and
  
• attend college or enlist in the military.

Read the full entry and vote here

Labels: DREAM Act