Rigoberto Padilla, 21, came to the USA from Mexico when he was 6. He went to school in Chicago, joined the honor society and dreamed of becoming a lawyer-all while living here illegally. Padilla's status wasn't a problem until he applied for college and couldn't qualify for financial aid without a Social Security number, he says.
In January, the University of Illinois-Chicago junior was charged with drunken driving. He pleaded guilty to a misdemeanor (轻罪), paid a fine and got court supervision, but that brought him to the attention of immigration officials and triggered deportation proceedings. "It was one mistake in my life," he says.
Padilla's impending deportation, catapulted (猛投) him into a campaign to stop the deportation of college students and recent graduates. Lawmakers, students, members of the clergy and other acti-vists hope to buy the students time and use their stories to push for laws that would allow them, and perhaps millions of other illegal immigrants, to earn legal status, says Joshua Hoyt of the Illinois Coalition for Immigrant and Refugee Rights. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agreed last week to delay Padilla's deportation for a year, making him one of at least seven young illegal immigrants who have had their deportations delayed since June, according to Dream Activist, one of the groups spearheading the campaign. Family ties and community standing are among the factors ICE considers when asked to delay a deportation, says ICE spokesman Richard Rocha.
"I want to graduate college and give back to this country," Padilla says. His supporters flooded the Department of Homeland Security with thousands of faxes and designed a Facebook page telling 2 800 members how to help. The Chicago City Council passed a resolution in his behalf, and Rep. Jan Schakowsky, D-Ill. , introduced a bill specifically for him that would allow him to stay. "Why would we deprive ourselves of outstanding students and future leaders？" she asks. "They had no part in the decision to come here. "
There are 12 million illegal immigrants in the USA. Activists call for an overhaul of immigration law that would offer them a way to earn legal status. Rep. Luis Gutierrez, Dill. , introduced a bill Tuesday that would give illegal immigrants who pay fines, pass background checks and meet other requirements a path toward legal residency. College students who are illegal immigrants fail under a separate proposal called the Development, Relief and Education for Alien Minors Act--the DREAM Act. Requirements would include arrival in the USA at 15 or younger, a five-year residency or more, and at least two years of college or military service. Versions of the act have been introduced since 2001 without success.
Padilla could be deported because ______.
A．he was charged with drunken driving
B．he had no Social Security number
C．he did not get the financial aid in the college
D．he was an illegal in,migrant
IN 2005 Congress considered an emergency spending bill that designated $81 billion for military spending and Asian tsunami relief. It passed easily. A politician would have to be mighty confident to vote against humanitarian aid and supporting the troops.
But complaints have steadily grown about a law that came with the spending bill. The Real ID Act of 2005 established national standards for driving licences. By 2008, it said, every state would have to make sure its licences included "physical security features" and "a common machine readable technology". A state would be responsible for verifying that anyone applying for licences is in America legally. Only licences that met the new standards would be accepted by the federal government. An American who wanted to fly commercially, or do anything else for which he needed to identify himself, would end up in a queue at the Department of Motor Vehicles.
The idea was to make life harder for would-be terrorists. But the scheme will certainly make life harder for the states. The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) reckons that implementing the changes will cost states up to $14.6 billion, with individuals on the line for an additional $8.@5 billion. And the federal government plans to meet only a fraction of the cost.
Critics also argue that the new licences will amount to national identification cards and will contain ton much information about the bearer. Immigration advocates say that the Real ID Act unfairly targets illegal immigrants. And from a security standpoint the act raises as many fears as it allays. Licences that meet the revised standards would be rich of sensitive data. They might prove irresistibly tempting to identity thieves and marketing firms.
On January 25th Maine became the first state to oppose the Act. Its legislature passed a resolution refusing to implement the Real ID Act with nearly unanimous support. On March 8th, Idaho approved a similar bill. Two dozen other states have measures pending that question the act or oppose it outright.
On March 1st the DHS issued guidelines for implementing the Real ID Act that manage to ignore most of these objections. The guidelines allow states a bit more time to implement the act. But they give no quarter on the expensive physical security features and suggest that states deal with privacy concerns on their own. And as the National Governors Association promptly noted, they "do nothing" to address the cost to states.
Which of the following consequence might be caused by the 2005 emergency spending bill？
A．financial support to the construction of international aid groups.
B．an act that has brought to great disputes among different states.
C．prohibitions of US citizens to take commercial flights.
D．against humanitarian aid to countries that were attacked by the Asian tsunami.
