Thread: Bill to help some illegal immigrants may be doomed

Bill to help some illegal immigrants may be doomed

Associated Press
By JULIE HIRSCHFELD DAVIS – 47 mins ago
WASHINGTON, D.C.

The House passed legislation Wednesday to give hundreds of thousands of foreign-born youngsters brought to the country illegally a shot at legal status, a fleeting victory for an effort that appears doomed in the Senate.

The so-called Dream Act, which passed the House 216-198, has been viewed by Hispanic activists and immigrant advocates as a downpayment on what they had hoped would be broader action by President Barack Obama and the Democratic-controlled Congress to give the nation's 10 million to 12 million undocumented immigrants a chance to gain legal status.

Critics railed against the measure, calling it a backdoor grant of amnesty that would encourage more foreigners to sneak into the United States in hopes of being legalized eventually.

The Senate is expected Thursday to vote on whether to advance similar legislation, but it's very unlikely Democrats can muster the 60 votes needed to advance it past opposition by Republicans and a handful of their own members.

"It's an uphill struggle," Sen. Dick Durbin of Illinois, the No. 2 Democrat, acknowledged.

Debate on the measure is fraught with politics.

Obama has made an intense public push in recent days in favor of the measure, eager to demonstrate his commitment to Hispanic voters, a key voting bloc that's been alienated by his failure to push broader immigration legislation.

With the GOP taking control of the House and representing a stronger minority in the Senate next year, failure to enact the legislation by year's end dims the prospects for action by Congress to grant a path toward legalization for the nation's millions of illegal immigrants.

Tamar Jacoby of ImmigrationWorks USA, a pro-immigration employers coalition, said the defeat won't end Congress' attempts to address the issue but predicted that future legislation will look far different.

"Anything that they're going to do is going to disappoint comprehensive immigration reform advocates," Jacoby said. "It's going to be a tough haul" to tackle the subject in the new Congress.

After the House vote, Obama issued a statement pledging to move forward on immigration reform and casting the Dream Act as a way of correcting what he called "one of the most egregious flaws of a badly broken immigration system."

"This vote is not only the right thing to do for a group of young people who seek to serve a country they know as their own by continuing their education or serving in the military, but it is the right thing for the United States of America," Obama said.

"We are enriched by their talents and the success of their efforts will contribute to our nation's success and security."

Obama's drive to enact the legislation and congressional Democrats' determination to vote on it before year's end reflect the party's efforts to satisfy Hispanic groups whose backing has been critical in elections of Harry Reid and will be again for Democrats in 2012.

The legislation would give hundreds of thousands of young illegal immigrants brought to the United States before the age of 16, and who have been here for five years and graduated from high school or gained an equivalency degree, a chance to gain legal status if they joined the military or attended college.

Hispanic activists have described the Dream Act as the least Congress can do on the issue.

It targets the most sympathetic of the millions of undocumented people — those brought to the United States as children, who in many cases consider themselves American, speak English and have no ties to or family living in their native countries.

Students who would be eligible for legalization under the bill have fanned out across Capitol Hill in recent days to personally lobby lawmakers to back it. A group of them was seated in the House gallery to watch the vote, and they broke out in cheers, some embracing each other as the vote on passage was announced.

Earlier, Democrats took to the House floor to paint the measure as a matter of basic decency.

"Have a little compassion," Rep. Eliot Engel, D-N.Y., said, directing his remarks at the GOP. "These children came here, they didn't decide to come here. They know no other country. Some of them don't even know the language of the country in which they were born, and they deserve to have a right as free Americans."

Their pleas did little to move firm Republican opposition.

"It is not being cold-hearted to acknowledge that every dollar spent on illegal immigrants is one dollar less that's spent on our own children, our own senior citizens and for all those who entered this society who played by the rules, who paid their taxes and expect their government to watch out for their needs before it bestows privileges and scarce resources on illegals," said Rep. Dana Rohrabacher, R-Calif.

Just eight Republicans joined Democrats to back the bill, while more than three dozen Democrats broke with their party to vote against it.

http://news.yahoo.com

"Have a little compassion," Rep. Eliot Engel, D-N.Y., said, directing his remarks at the GOP. "These children came here, they didn't decide to come here. They know no other country. Some of them don't even know the language of the country in which they were born, and they deserve to have a right as free Americans."

You big buffoon, these illegal aliens have no right to be free Americans, because they have no right to be here, and even if they stay here, they will never be Americans. Look at the 8 Republicans who voted for this crap in the US House of Representatives, 7 lame ducks and 5 foreign born immigrants, 2 from the same family, the Diaz-Balart brothers.

Every member of Congress and Cabinet member should have to be a natural born citizen, born here to two US citizen parents, the same as the President and Vice President of the United States.

Republican should never run an immigrant or an anchor baby for Congress. Heed the lessons and do what is right to save our country from this treasonous madness.

YOU HAVE TO CALL TONIGHT AND TARGET THE BLUE DOG DEMS AND BROWNBACK, MULKOWSKI, LEMIEUX, COLLINS, SNOWE...

DREAMERS ARE TARGETING COLLINS AND SNOWE... SEE BELOW...

Ok after spending the weekend in Maine trying to spread the word of the DREAM ACT and holding rallies and vigils It has saddened me that We are not getting enough phone calls for SEN.SUSAN COLLINS and SEN.SNOWE The thing is Snowes voicemail was full =)=/ but Sen Collins wasn't Im asking DREAMERS from all over the nation to call both of these senators so they can either support or cosponsor the DREAM ACT. Their offices open at 9 and close at 6 if you can call as early as 9 please do. WE need to fill their voicemails NOW! The DREAM ACT has TWO WEEKS we need to get their support. IF you want to call you have to call the CAPITOL SWITCHBOARD

1866 587 3023
THEN ask for SEN.COllins OR SNOWE.
THEN SAY THIS
" HI, I'm CAlling to ask Sen.______ to please support the DREAM ACT. This bill will allow undocumented youth who came to this country as children by no fault of their own to serve in the armed forces or go to college. PLEASE vote yes on the upcoming vote on the DREAM ACT."

So we have 3 GOP. If Snowe and Collins say yes then we should have 5. I heard we need 5 to 7 GOP. Hopefully we only need 5.

WHAT.......I want my FREE LUNCH ..................

"Some of them dont even know the language of the country they came from". They are raised by parents who no speak English yet they cant speak spanish. Their English speaking skills sure change when it is convenient for them.

More propaganda directed at English speaking Americans saying the bill has little chance.

W

this is all obama doing