Warped by stereotypes that are perpetuated by the media, perceptions of people who have entered this country illegally are mostly inaccurate. Illegal immigrants bear the weight of these misconceptions and do not have the necessary means to overcome them.

It’s long overdue that the Development, Relief and Education for Alien Minors (DREAM) Act gets the attention it warrants.

The DREAM Act is proposed legislation that would allow these students access to higher education and military enlistment. They would receive temporary residency, and thus work toward citizenship.

It is nearly incomprehensible why we so blatantly discriminate against these students, regardless of citizenship status. We need to be making sure undocumented students have access to the same rights and resources as the rest of us, not punishing them for choices they had no say in.

Not everyone agrees.

Campo Minutemen is a civilian group that patrols the border to stop immigration. Their slogan is, “Doing for the Country What the Government Won’t.”

Britt Craig, spokesperson and volunteer, said, “We want these kids to have education to work, but they have a moral obligation to turn their parents in at 18, then sponsor them to bring them back. Then we can worry about the DREAM Act.”

According to the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services, after roughly seven years of U.S. residence, it takes about nine months to become a citizen. This only applies to people here legally.

But the land of opportunity isn’t supposed to be limited to just the people who were born here. If the process to legally enter this country didn’t take so long, people wouldn’t be forced to do so illegally.

Sacramento State junior business major, Jose Chavez is an illegal immigrant. He asked that his real name not be included. Chavez has a 3.6 grade point average and he works nights as a busboy. He was brought here at the age of 5 by his mother.

“Half the country doesn’t want me here, thinks I’m a problem to society. I’m going to school because I want to do good things,” Chavez said. “I don’t get any help paying for this, so I work every night. It isn’t easy.”

Chavez gets paid under the table. The most common conception of this is that illegal immigrants are beating the system, not paying taxes on their wages.

For employers, paying illegal immigrants under the table means they can ignore the minimum wage and pay as little as possible for labor.

It means no benefits or sick days for the illegal workers. And no matter how hard illegal immigrants work, they still have to work harder and get paid less.

Yet over and over, it’s said that these immigrants are just sitting around, freeloading off our government and taking our jobs.

“The economy of the nation belongs to (its) citizens. Their fathers and grandfathers built it, built the factories. It belongs to us,” Craig said. “I’m 60. I’m working 96 hours a week because I believe Americans have the right to the jobs first.”

So what makes someone American? It isn’t driving around with an American flag hanging off your car. How could we even begin defining our cultural, social identity?

What is it that separates Jose Chavez from the rest of us?

The word “alien” gets thrown around, like we’re talking about a completely different species. But just like us, Chavez still remembers the lyrics to awful ’90s radio hits and had Nerf gun wars with his friends.

Isn’t that what we look back on? Hallmarks of our youth, stupid jingles from commercials and watching “Are You Afraid of the Dark?” – most of these kids were right there watching, too. They deserve to be right there with us in class, too.

They deserve as much help as we do to get through school.

This country’s founding declaration states that all men are created equal, not just American citizens. The DREAM Act is just one more step toward real equality in America.

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