Rawn Holland Letter to the President NYSYLC 2011 Scholarship Submission Dear President Obama, Congratulations on your feat

of becoming the 44th President of the United States. Your election in November 2008 instilled pride and hope in many Americans, especially minorities like myself, that this nation is making great strides towards unity and progress in the days ahead. I wish you all the best in the upcoming presidential elections of 2012. However, our nation still faces many challenges in the aftermath of the financial crisis thats ensued after you first took office, such as high unemployment rates in the job sector and rising gas prices among many others. One problem that has persisted, even before the Great Recession of 2008, is the plight of undocumented youths in this country. Many of these students are very successful and ambitious young students could propel America to the position it once had as a global leader, either orchestrating or being a part of new innovative projects, developing new technologies, helping to improve our nations structural infrastructure, education system, and redirecting American efforts on a greener environment with more investment in renewable sources of energy in the near future.

However, many undocumented students cannot help to do so because they are caught in the middle of our nations broken immigration system. They live in a country which the law states that they are entitled to an elementary and secondary education in just like any citizen in this country. But those same laws are detrimental to undocumented students by making it hard to go to college due to the inability to receive much needed financial aid, find a job, or even travel due to their immigration status. Now its the time President Obama to show that Yes we can as a country to fix our borders, to the north and south, and reform our laws that will enable young undocumented students to be full participants in this democracy. Now is the time Mr. President to stop deporting undocumented youths, for each and every one representing a potential future leader in this country? Help pass the DREAM ACT Mr. President, for not only will America reap the benefits of the hard work and ambitious minds of the undocumented youths but they also represent potential source for new military recruits to help the army meet its quota. Do not continue to punish these young individuals for the mistakes their parents have made. Undocumented students are not terrorists or criminals; they are simply students who wish to be able to continue their education in this country in order to fulfill their dreams of becoming the next doctor or engineer while respecting the laws of this country and paying taxes. As Malcolm X once said, A mind is a terrible thing to waste, so Mr. Presidents keep working to pass the DREAM ACT that will ensure undocumented youths can attain a post-secondary education and have a pathway to citizenship because it would be a terrible thing to waste the talents these group of students possess.

Rawn H.