Thread: DREAM Act Won't Spark More Illegal Immigration, Durbin Says

DREAM Act Won't Spark More Illegal Immigration, Durbin Says

http://www.crosswalk.com/news/11557646/

CNSNews.com) - The Senate on Wednesday will consider the DREAM Act, a bill that would open a path to citizenship for illegal immigrants who were brought into the United States as children and who prove themselves as productive members of society.

The bill has been derided by conservative critics. But its sponsor, Sen. Dick Durbin (D-Ill.), said the bill has specific safeguards and will not spark "chain migration" of illegal immigrants into America.

The bill would grant legal status to illegal immigrants who were brought into the United States as children by their parents. Eligible immigrants must have been in the United States for at least five years before the bill's signing date and must have been younger than 16 when they arrived here.

The newest version of the bill - which has been in existence in various forms for five years - will face its first procedural hurdle Wednesday morning when the Senate is scheduled to vote on cloture to proceed with consideration of the bill.

If it passes with the 60 votes needed, the bill would still face a cloture vote to end debate and a final up-or-down vote on passage.

The bill also sets an age-cap requiring immigrants to be under 30 years old to be eligible. To achieve legal status, the illegal residents must meet several requirements, including a clean criminal record and illustrated efforts to either earn a college degree or enlist in the military.

The current version of the bill does not include a controversial provision that would have repealed a federal prohibition on states granting in-state tuition to illegal aliens.

In a conference call with reporters Tuesday, Sen. Dick Durbin (D-Ill.), sponsor of the DREAM Act, said he is "heartened by the support I'm receiving on the floor" but said he currently counts support for the cloture motion in the "mid-50s," short of the 60 needed.

Durbin also addressed conservative opponents' criticism that the bill would open a backdoor for amnesty by granting legal status to illegal immigrants' children, who could then turn around and sponsor their parents and siblings for citizenship.

"DREAM Act beneficiaries would have very limited abilities to sponsor family members," Durbin said, adding that they "could not begin sponsoring parents or siblings for at least six years," and illegal immigrants would have to move out of the country for 10 years before being eligible.

"This notion that somehow this will lead to chain migration is just wrong," he said.

Nonetheless, conservative activists who scored a victory over comprehensive immigration reform during the summer have leapt back into action, urging radio audiences and blog readers to call senators and urge them to oppose the measure.

Conservative columnist Michelle Malkin wrote on her Web site Monday that the legislation was a "nightmare" and that even with the changes that have been made, "it remains a bad idea - providing instant amnesty, serving as a future illegal alien magnet, and perpetuating inequity."

The anti-illegal immigration group NumbersUSA has raised concerns that the bill does not offer strict standards for proving an illegal immigrant's eligibility beyond meeting the age requirement.

In a statement on its Web site, the group said that a 30-year-old illegal alien "could claim that he illegally entered the United States when he was 15, but there is no requirement that the alien prove that he entered the United States at the claimed time by providing particular documents."

"The proposal would merely require him to 'demonstrate' that he is eligible, which in practice could mean simply making a sworn statement to that effect," the group said. "Thus, it would be an invitation for just about every illegal alien 30 and under to fraudulently claim the amnesty."

The Center for Immigration Studies, a group that opposed amnesty for illegal immigrants and advocates for lower legal immigration, estimates that the DREAM Act could benefit as many as 2.1 million illegal immigrants, including the direct beneficiaries, their parents, siblings and others.

The group also expects that "given the difficultly in determining whether an applicant meets the DREAM Act's amnesty requirements, coupled with the overworked nature of the immigration bureaucracy, fraud could be a significant problem.""

"DREAM Act beneficiaries would have very limited abilities to sponsor family members," Durbin said, adding that they "could not begin sponsoring parents or siblings for at least six years," and illegal immigrants would have to move out of the country for 10 years before being eligible.

"This notion that somehow this will lead to chain migration is just wrong," he said.

Lies, lies and more lies! Do not believe this...it's a smoke screen! Call your Senators and tell them not to believe Durbin's lies.

he must be
got a be
the only one saying this

Remember, our government promised us in 1986 that if we, the people, consented to the Immigration Reform and Control Act of 1986, the amnesty that was supposed to end all amnesties, that the government would secure our borders, stop the further inflow of illegal aliens and take away the incentive to come to our country illegally by enforcing employer sanctions.

I for one am sick and tired of the empty promises and rhetoric!