Arkansas Advocates for Children and Families needs your help TODAY to ensure that all Arkansas children live up to their full potential.  The U.S. Senate is considering a bill this week, known as the DREAM Act, that would provide undocumented kids with improved access to a higher education and a legal means to contribute to our society.

Call U.S. Sen. Mark Pryor and urge him to support the bill:  (202) 224-2353

Call U.S. Sen. Blanche Lincoln and thank her for her support of the bill, and for co-sponsoring it: (202) 224-4843

Currently, undocumented immigrant children who were brought to the U.S. at a young age and have grown up here have no way to become legal citizens and fully contribute to society.  The DREAM Act offers an unprecedented opportunity to provide nearly 1 million children and youth with improved access to higher education and an earned pathway to citizenship, including an untold number of Arkansas high school graduates who are the children of immigrants. Under certain conditions, the DREAM Act would give permanent-resident status to undocumented high school graduates, providing them an opportunity to attend college or serve in the military before applying for permanent residency.

A great majority of Americans favor the DREAM Act, including 69 percent of Southerners, according to a poll conducted this summer by First Focus. We need our senators to hear those voices!

It really is easy, quick and painless. You call, you express your support for the bill; they may ask for your zip code. That’s it. You’re done. They pass on your sentiments to the senators, and they really do pay attention to those call totals. So take two minutes and do it now!

We at AACF work to ensure that all Arkansas children to live up to their full potential, and without the Dream Act, that won’t happen. As Rafael Arciga, once an undocumented student himself, said in Monday’s Arkansas Democrat-Gazette, “It’s a no-brainer… What is right is providing them with an education so they can contribute to the community.”