Thread: DREAM Act dies in Senate

DREAM Act dies in Senate


In the end, the weeks of rallies are not paying off for immigration activists. | AP Photo

By SCOTT WONG & SHIRA TOEPLITZ | 12/18/10 11:39 AM EST
Updated: 12/19/10 9:08 PM EST
452 Comments

The weeks of rallies, hunger strikes and sit-ins and the thousands of phone calls placed to Senate offices didn’t pay off for immigration activists.

The decade-old DREAM Act once again failed to break a filibuster in the Senate on Saturday morning, effectively killing the bill this year and shutting the door on what perhaps was the last chance for pro-immigration reform legislation until at least the 2012 election.

Senate Democrats came up five votes short of the 60 needed to advance the House-passed bill, which would provide a path to citizenship for illegal immigrants brought to the country as children if they attend college or join the military for two years.

The 55-41 vote was mostly along party lines, though a handful of Democrats — perhaps fearful of their 2012 election outlook — also voted against the DREAM Act.

This latest vote really didn't ever have a chance in the current political climate, which has moved decidedly against liberalizing immigration laws in recent years. Nonetheless, as droves of disappointed activists left the Senate galleries after the vote, several were crying – a sign of how emotionally charged the issue had become.

“I’ve known the names of most people and how they would vote for a long, long time,â€

We have granted one amnesty after another and it has to stop somewhere. More amnesties have resulted in more illegal immigration.

The Republicans have catered to employers who want cheap labor and the Democrats see potential new voters....doesn't take a rocket scientist to see this. So which party would benefit the most from another amnesty? The Democrats would with millions of new voters and most Republicans realize this.

[quote]“This vote is the World Cup of immigration votes for the immigrant community,â€