Filipe Zamborlini of the Student Immigrant Movement spearheaded the presentation. Zamborlini, an immigrant from Brazil himself, has a very pertinent experience with the difficulties of being an undocumented student. He referred to this problem as "having a block on your life…there is nothing you can do to step over it." He, and the entire crowd of around twenty-five in attendance Monday night were in agreement that this Act is imperative in giving non-citizen students the capabilities to succeed.

The DREAM Act is not the first of its kind. According to Zamborlini, the act has gone through subtle changes, including to its label. It has been attempted four times, but to no avail as of yet. The act intends to repeal a law enacted in July of 1998 that inhibited any illegal alien to attain any post-secondary school benefits from the state, as well as to legalize about 65,000 students nationally within the first year. This act would permit the individual states to regulate their own immigration policies instead of the Federal Government having the only say.

To be eligible for this, the person would have to be enrolled in a college, have lived in the United States for at least five years before turning sixteen years of age, in good moral standing, and has never been under deportation order. After following the proposed procedures, eligible persons would then be informed by the Secretary of Homeland Security that they would get accepted into the program. If rejected, the person could petition for a second chance.

In basic terms, the act would give eligible students a temporary residency. This would be valid for six years, and after the completion of either two years of military service, acquisition of a bachelor degree or higher, or at least two years of post-secondary completion, the student would then be able to apply for permanent residency. Although it hasn't been discussed of yet, the six years enacted under the DREAM Act could count toward the current five years of United States residency that is required to apply for citizenship.

The Education Act of 1965 came up in the conversation, being very appropriate to this current movement. Although there is almost no chance of this Act passing this year, the advocates of it hope for it to be voted into law within the next year. The DREAM Act could possibly be voted together with a larger bill, the Comprehensive Immigration Reform Bill, but that is not a certainty quite yet either. Congress is still discussing measures to fix immigration policies.

Regina Bertaholdo of Somerville's Public School District brought up the fact that for the most part, all of the students who would benefit from this are most likely bi-lingual, an imperative factor in the ever-expanding global economy. According to Zambolini, if this act were to be passed into law, it would "aid in the unification of families, promote a desire to stay in the United States and build a successful life, allow students to come out of their shadows, and act as a major step for the CIR. It would prove that immigration reform is needed and worth while."

In response to the question "what can we do to further this all," Zambolini stated that the next steps would be to push this Act into law. All of the representatives from Massachusetts are currently co-sponsors of the Act, so now it is important to convince the representatives of nearby New England states to push the bill as well.