Advocates for legalizing the children of illegal aliens try to make the case that most DREAMers are worthy of amnesty.  Many are students or members of the military who deserve a chance to succeed in America.

This may be true.  But the demographic reality is very different from what the media would have us believe.  And that reality points to assimilation problems with DREAMers that is rarely discussed.

Washington Times:

Watching television reports concerning Dreamers, one would think that the DACA program applied only to college-educated immigrants who were just a few years old when their parents brought them into the country illegally. We are led to believe that most are so fully Americanized that they would now have trouble speaking their native language and are all but ignorant of their birth countries' cultural norms. Thus, we are supposed to believe, returning them to their native lands would be a cruel hardship.

In fact, many DACA beneficiaries came here as teenagers. All were eligible for the program as long as they entered the U.S. before their 16th birthday. By that time, there is no doubt that they spoke the language of their native countries fluently and knew their culture intimately.

DACA had no requirement of English fluency, as evidenced by the application form that had a space to list the translator used to complete the form. The Center for Immigration Studies estimates that "perhaps 24 percent of the DACA-eligible population fall into the functionally illiterate category and another 46 percent have only 'basic' English ability."

Unfortunately, many Dreamers are poorly educated. Only 49 percent of DACA beneficiaries have a high school education, even though a majority are now adults. And while military service could also qualify an illegal alien for DACA, out of the current 690,000 DACA beneficiaries, only 900 are serving in the military.

The Obama administration did not check the background of each DACA beneficiary, despite a requirement that they have no felony convictions and pose no threat to national security. Only a few randomly selected DACA applicants were ever actually vetted.

This may explain why, by August this year, more than 2,100 DACA beneficiaries had had their eligibility pulled because of criminal convictions and gang affiliation. Even if a random background investigation produced substantial evidence that an illegal alien might have committed multiple crimes, the alien would still be eligible for DACA if he wasn't convicted.

Thus, it seems that a significant percentage of DACA beneficiaries have serious limitations in their education, work experience and English fluency. What's the likelihood that they'll be able to function in American society without being substantial burdens to U.S. taxpayers?

A minimum requirement for illegal aliens to be made legal should be an ability to support oneself.  That so many cannot master the English language should give Congress pause when considering allowing millions of nearly illiterate, non-English-speaking DREAMers to remain in the U.S. with their illegal parents.  Not every DREAMer can work at a company where most employees speak Spanish.  The English requirement should be non-negotiable, or we will end up with another permanent underclass, wholly dependent on the government to live.

This is a situation that calls for examining each case on an individual basis rather than granting mass amnesty to a class of illegal alien.  Criminals, illiterates, and Spanish-only-speaking DREAMers need to be excluded from any consideration for being granted legal status.  Otherwise, we open the door to more illegal immigration.