Title:
For Some, Free Citizenship Classes; For Others, a
Dream Delayed Again
Description: This is
a VOA Special English Education Report.
See text below
Text:
Americans talk a lot about illegal immigration but
not as much about legal immigration. Legal
immigrants who want to become citizens must learn
English and show a knowledge of American history and
government. They must also pay a fee and meet other
requirements. Immigrants may take citizenship
classes to help them prepare for the naturalization
test. Last year, thirteen groups received a total of
just over one million dollars from the government to
offer these classes. This year, that support has
grown to almost eight million dollars. The money is
going to seventy-five organizations across the
country. Now many classes are being offered free of
charge through a program supported by United States
Citizenship and Immigration Services. Alejandro
Mayorkas is the agency's director. He says the
agency wants to make it easier for people to become
American citizens. Elsy Ventura from El Salvador
paid one hundred dollars to take a class near
Washington. She says it is a lot of money for her to
pay. She is a single mother who supports her own
mother. But her goal is to become an American. She
says she wants to have rights like anybody else in
this country.Other immigrants share that goal. But
for some young people, hopes of citizenship were
recently blocked in Congress for the fifth time in
ten years. The United States has an estimated eleven
million illegal immigrants. About two million of
them arrived as children brought by their parents. A
measure known as the Dream Act would put these
children of undocumented immigrants on a path toward
citizenship instead of possible expulsion. In
return, they would have to show "good moral
character" and graduate from high school. They would
also have to complete two years of college or serve
in the military. "Dream" is short for Development,
Relief and Education for Alien Minors. Some
conservatives say it could increase illegal border
crossings at a time when many Americans want
stronger controls. But the idea gained support among
conservatives and liberals, the military and
education leaders. Still, the measure died in
September in the Senate, where it was tied to a bill
to let homosexuals serve openly in the military.
Political observers do not expect Congress to
consider the Dream Act again before congressional
elections in November. But they do expect supporters
to keep trying in the future. For VOA Special
English I'm Alex Villarreal.
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Hi. I
personally reviewed this video and found it appropriate for
the news section of English Global Group. This
is a Voice of America video which covers an interesting
topic in Special English. I would appreciate some feedback from both
students and teachers about this video. You can comment in
the window below using any of a number of different services
including Facebook, Yahoo, AOL, and Hotmail.
