Students canvass city neighborhoods to push the DREAM Act.

Dream Act Canvass


Photographer: WMAR
Copyright 2012 Scripps Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.

Advertisement

Posted: 09/29/2012

NE BALTIMORE, Md. - Some aren't even old enough to vote, but they have a voice.  They are going door-to-door, knocking, and dropping off information. 

"There are a lot of people who work hard in school and who do their best and who try and really deserve to go to college," said Dawnya Johnson, a student at the Baltimore Freedom Academy.    

High school students made it their mission to support the DREAM Act and ask voters to do the same.  On Saturday, members of the group “The Intersection” walked through Northeast Baltimore for a few hours.

"Can we count on your support,” asked Ejaz Baluch, Jr., who is a teacher in Baltimore City.  “Yes,” said a city resident. 

As students knock, they realize they’re not just asking people to support Question 4.  They're also telling them what the DREAM Act is. 

"The vast majority of the people we talk to aren't really familiar with the law at all, so most of the time we have to explain what the law is," said Baluch.    

The 2011 law would allow illegal immigrants to pay the discounted in-state tuition price if they attend Maryland high schools and if their families have filed state tax returns.

Opponents gathered enough signatures and pushed it to a referendum, saying they don't deserve the break since they aren't Maryland citizens.

The group, Educating Maryland Kids Coalition, says only about one percent of the student population is made up of dreamers.

"In order for these students to be eligible for in-state tuition through the Maryland Dream Act, their family must have filed income taxes for three years before they go to a Maryland college and file taxes every year they're in college," said Kristin Ford, spokeswoman for Educating Maryland Kids Coalition.         

The push to get voters to approve the DREAM Act will continue until Election Day, November 6.

Copyright 2012 Scripps Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.

  • Comments

 

 


 

Advertisement

Special Reports


  1. SPECIAL REPORT | Day care inspections

    SPECIAL REPORT | Day care inspections

    SPECIAL REPORT | Thousands of child care center inspections reports are NOW AVAILABLE. Find out what inspectors founds inside day care centers across the state.

    • Inside a Criminal Mind | Jason Scott

      Inside a Criminal Mind | Jason Scott

      SPECIAL REPORT | When it's out of your hands, when your life is at the mercy of an armed, masked man staring down at you from the barrel of a gun in your own home, you grasp at whatever it is you can control; breathing, composure, or faith.

    • SPECIAL REPORT | Bad Medicine

      SPECIAL REPORT | Bad Medicine

      SPECIAL REPORT | ABC2 Investigator Joce Sterman has reviewed thousands of pages of documents for her Bad Medicine report.

       
      • Stay Connected