It appears that I may have had a crystal ball near me when I posted my last essay predicting that Ms.Daniela Pelaez, the North Miami high schooler, might become the face of the DREAM Act. Just today, local reports are that Congressman David Rivera (R, Miami) is going to introduce a new bill that appears to resemble key components of the DREAM Act. This is a truly interesting development because Rivera, a close friend of U.S. Senator Marco Rubio, previously introduced a military service-only option version of the DREAM Act. Rivera and others came under considerable criticism from various groups for that option.
Evidently, Rivera will sponsor the Studying Towards Adjusted Residency Status Act (STARS Act). It would let undocumented immigrants age 18 years and younger, who arrived in the U.S. before age 16, to legally remain in the U.S. if they earn a four-year college degree.
This is a truly promising development; one that this old DREAMer advocate could get behind. While I, and I suspect others, will want to study the bill, it appears some dreams on may come true?
BTW, the answer to my trivia question regarding the two balls hit out of the Old Yankee Stadium by professional ball players–Josh Gibson is believed to have hit the only fair ball HR while playing for the Homestead Grays, and Dave Kingman hit a foul ball straight back over the stadium in his stint with the Yankees. Mantle allegedly came close twice, almost getting it over a small gap in upperdeck over right field.
New Trivia: first baseball player to hit a homerun in a game in the new Marlins Stadium?