Legal Immigrants Join Forces Against Dream Act

Legal immigrants voiced their discontent against the Maryland Dream Act because they worked legally for their status and say others should too.

Anuchit Washirapunya, 62, who works in a Silver Spring barbershop, said that illegal students have no right to stay in the U.S. It took him eight years to gain his visa after leaving Thailand, according to a recent report in the Washington Post.

Washirapunya, who is deaf and doesn't speak English, wrote about his discontent of the Maryland Dream Act, according to the report.

However, proponents such as Jesus Alberto Martinez, 55, push for the measure. He overstayed his tourist visa from Colombia when he was teenager and eventually worked towards his U.S. citizenship.

Martinez who is currently an ophthalmologist and U.S. Navy veteran in Rockville said without the measure talented students would be denied opportunities in life because of decisions their parents made, according to the Washington Post report.

 However, to meet the requirements they would have to provide documentation proving they graduated from an in-state high school and either they or their legal guardian has made a three-year Maryland tax contribution.

In April, the measure was passed but was challenged by opposition-group Help Save Maryland. The group secured about 100,000 online petition signatures which stalled the measure and it currently awaits a statewide public referendum in 2012.