Are Democrats Turning Against the DREAM Act?
Nathan Pippenger
August 5, 2011 | 12:00 am

mong those active in the immigration debate, the prevailing mood right now is impatience with Washington. With national action paralyzed, movement is mostly found at the state level, in places like Maryland, where the debate over a state-level DREAM Act is now unfolding. The Maryland DREAM Act was supposed to go into effect in July, but, earlier this summer, its opponents mounted a successful petition drive, stalling its implementation and subjecting it to a general referendum in 2012. A lawsuit initiated this week seeks to overturn the effects of the petition. Amid the back-and-forth is a bigger question: Why, in relatively liberal Maryland, has the law had such a hard time? And if this is what happens in Maryland, does comprehensive immigration reform stand a chance?

Maryland’s DREAM Act was originally proposed in 2002. Passed in 2003, it was then vetoed by Republican Governor Robert Ehrlich. In April of this year, the law passed again, and was signed in May by Governor O’Malley. The law’s proponents knew about the petition drive at the time of passage, but many seemed to believe the opposition was limited. As one activist with the immigration rights group CASA de Maryland, the organization behind the lawsuit announced this week, told me, “colleges and universities, churches, civil rights groups, community organizations all support this law.â€