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By all accounts, Hector Lopez is an exemplary student. He graduated Rex Putnam High School in Portland after a year of being the student body president. He was nominated for the national Alexander Hamilton leadership award, logged 600 community service hours, and even coached Little League. He is the picture of the all-American boy. The only problem is he is not an American citizen.

Friends, students, and community leaders gathered at Portland State University on Tuesday morning in support of Hector and to urge the passage of the Development, Relief and Education of Alien Minors Act (DREAM Act).

Like 2 million undocumented children living in the United States today Hector lived in fear of being deported, a fear that was realized two weeks ago when he was arrested by U.S. immigration authorities. His deportation emphasized the need for passage of the DREAM Act, which was up for a vote in the Senate on Tuesday. The DREAM Act would provide undocumented youth with a path to citizenship if they attend two years of college or serve two years in the military.

Hector was born in Mexico and his family crossed the border illegally when he was six weeks old. Now he is in Mexico with no job, no future, and little chance of getting either because he can’t read, write, or speak the language.

“I want to come home,” said Hector via cell phone. “I’m an American, and I want to come home to Portland where I belong.”

 Hector Lopez

“Portland State wants students like Hector,” said PSU president Wim Wiewel. “We want them, and the state of Oregon needs them if we’re going to build a sustainable economy in the future.”

The DREAM Act remains in limbo after the U.S. Senate deadlocked on bringing the Act up for a vote.

Check out the video here: http://www.ustream.tv/recorded/9733918