Dream Act

Also DREAM Act

[dreem akt]

noun

Law.

1. Development, Relief, and Education for Alien Minors Act: proposed legislation intended to provide a path to lawful permanent residency for undocumented immigrants who were brought to the United States as minors, contingent upon their submission to background and medical checks and their fulfillment of educational requirements.

Word History and Origins

Origin of Dream Act¹

First recorded in 2000–05; backronym for D(evelopment,) R(elief, and) E(ducation for) A(lien) M(inors) Act

Example Sentences

Under a 2001 state law and the California Dream Act — Sara pays lower in-state tuition and receives state financial aid for college — she has been able to afford her education.

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The California Dream Act passed a decade later and opened up state aid, including Cal Grants, to undocumented students.

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Gen. Rob Bonta, the UC Board of Regents, the Cal State University Board of Trustees and the Board of Governors for the California Community Colleges, also seeks to end provisions in the California Dream Act that allow students who lack documentation to apply for state-funded financial aid.

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The grants are awarded based on income, and students become eligible through the Free Application for Federal Student Aid or California Dream Act Application.

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Once the DOJ filed its lawsuit, Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton joined the federal government in gutting his own state’s Dream Act, established more than two decades ago to allow students without legal status to pay in-state college tuition rates.

Read more on Slate