House Sends Dream Act to Doubtful Senate

 

WASHINGTON & SANTA FE, NM (By Lisa Mascaro and Kathleen Hennessey, LAT) — The House passed a landmark youth immigration bill known as the Dream Act on Wednesday night largely along party lines, but the measure faces a tough test in the Senate as Democrats struggle to pass priority legislation in the waning days of this Congress.

Eight Republicans joined in approving the bill, 216 to 198. Thirty-eight Democrats voted no. The measure offers a path to citizenship for young people who were brought to this country illegally before age 16 and who have enrolled in college or entered the military.

 

The House passed the Dream Act after a late, hastily scheduled vote. Proponents called it the most significant immigration legislation to pass the House in a decade.

 

Democrats framed the legislation as a civil-rights issue. Republicans denounced it as a “nightmare” amnesty plan that would encourage illegal immigration.

The Senate will consider the Dream Act today but is unlikely to attract the necessary 60 votes to overcome a filibuster. Republican senators have vowed to block all legislation until a stalemate over the George W. Bush-era tax cuts is resolved. Obama and the GOP have reached a deal, but Democrats haven't signed on. But in the waning days of the lame-duck session, Senate Republicans have vowed to filibuster any legislation unrelated to the expiring Bush-era tax cuts and the funding of the government. Even proponents conceded they haven’t secured the 60 votes needed to move the bill forward in the Senate.

The lame-duck congressional session offers Democrats their best chance to pass both bills because, in January, Republicans will hold the majority in the House and more seats in the Senate.

"Let's give the dream kids an opportunity. They are American in every way but a piece of paper," said Luis V. Gutierrez (D-Ill.), a leading supporter. "We have come here to support the rule of law, yes, but to change the law when it is unfair."

A handful of Republicans in both chambers criticized the Dream Act as "nightmare" amnesty legislation bound to be abused and easily subject to fraud. They said it would create more competition for work in a recession.

"The American people want us to focus on creating jobs and getting Americans back to work. This will prevent Americans from getting jobs," said Rep. Lamar Smith (R- Texas). "It puts the interest of illegal immigrants ahead of those of law-abiding Americans."

Stalled in Congress for the past decade, the DREAM Act would provide “green cards” – and eventually the opportunity for citizenship — to some illegal immigrants who were brought to the country as children — if they attend college or join the military for two years.

To be eligible, beneficiaries must have come to the U.S. before the age of 16; be under the age of 30; lived in the country for five years; pass a criminal background test; and have a high school diploma or GED equivalent.

Critics aired a host of complaints about the bill, saying it rewards lawbreakers, allows those who commit some misdemeanor crimes to be eligible, adds to the federal deficit in the long term, and creates a new workforce that competes with “law-abiding Americans.”

“The DREAM Act is a nightmare for the American people. It insults American workers, American taxpayers, and anyone who believes in the rule of law,” said Rep. Lamar Smith (R-Texas), the incoming Judiciary Committee chairman. “The DREAM Act hurts millions of Americans who have lost their jobs, are under-employed or are threatened with layoffs. It puts the interests of illegal immigrants ahead of those of law-abiding Americans.”

Added Sen. Jeff Sessions (R-Ala.), the Senate’s most vocal opponent of the DREAM Act: “Americans want Congress to end the lawlessness, but this bill would have us surrender to it. It’s really a give-up type approach.”

The House vote came amid an enormous push for the DREAM Act by immigrant activists and the Obama administration.

In recent days, cabinet secretaries have made the case that the bill will produce more college graduates, boost the economy and military recruitment, and aid law enforcement efforts.

On Capitol Hill on Wednesday, Education Secretary Arne Duncan said 65,000 high school graduates each year cannot go on to college because of their illegal status.

“The DREAM Act corrects one of the most-egregious flaws of a badly broken immigration system,” Duncan said. “A flaw that forces children who have grown up in America, who speak English, who have excelled in our communities as academics, athletes, or volunteers to put their lives and talent on hold at a great cost to themselves and our nation.”

“We need their ingenuity, we need their creativity, we need their entrepreneurship skills, we need them to help lead the country where we need to go educationally,” Duncan said. “To have them stand on the sidelines at a time when we’re being out-competed by the rest of the world educationally makes absolutely no sense to me.”

This week, supporters held candlelight vigils, rallies and hunger strikes around the country, and flooded the Capitol with tens of thousands of phone calls to members of Congress.