Thread: Immigration debate finds focus in DREAM Act

Immigration debate finds focus in DREAM Act
Published: Monday, September 20, 2010, 10:15 PM
Jonathan Tilove

Last Wednesday, Sen. David Vitter, R-La., took to the Senate floor to warn that the Democratic leadership was going to try to slip a back-door amnesty for illegal immigrants, disguised as an education initiative, into the Defense Authorization Act this week, and promising to fight the DREAM Act "tooth and nail."

A few hours later, President Barack Obama was pumping that same DREAM Act at the Congressional Hispanic Caucus Institute annual awards gala before a receptive audience that has been waiting for the administration to tackle immigration reform head-on.

"It's the right thing to do it," Obama said of the act, which would give undocumented students a chance to earn legal status if they came here as children, are long-term residents, are of "good character," and complete two years of college or military service. "We should get it done."

The Development, Relief and Education for Alien Minors Act would allow unauthorized immigrants under the age of 35 to apply for legal permanent resident status on a conditional basis if they came to the United States before they turned 16, have lived in the United States for at least the past five years and have obtained a U.S. high school diploma or GED. They would then be able to move from conditional to permanent status if they complete at least two years of college or military service and maintain "good moral character," which is not precisely defined.

While its chances for passage are slight, the fight over the DREAM Act promises to provide a proxy for a the long-simmering debate over immigration that Congress has managed to avoid, and a chance for partisans on both sides to rally their base in advance of midterm elections in which turnout may prove decisive.

"This has become a cause celebre within the Latino community in terms of being the one piece of immigration reform that everyone believes is the most dire -- allowing kids who for all intents and purposes are American an opportunity to develop their potential and contribute to the country," said Arturo Vargas, executive director of the National Association of Latino Elected and Appointed Officials.

"We've been in an almost constant state of alert for 20 months," said Roy Beck, the head of NumbersUSA, which supports lower immigration levels and is rallying its troops to inundate the Senate with calls and faxes opposing the DREAM Act.

Beck said that for immigration activists, pro and con, the feeling is "finally a skirmish, and everything's going into it."

The present plan calls for the Democratic leadership to add the DREAM Act as an amendment to the Defense Authorization Bill. But the bill, already controversial because of its inclusion of language repealing the "don't ask, don't tell" language, which keeps gays and lesbians from serving openly in the military, must first win the 60 votes it needs Tuesday to begin debate.

The last attempt to pass the DREAM Act, in 2007, fell eight shorts vote of cloture, 52-44, with eight Democrats, including Sen. Mary Landrieu, D-La., voting "no" and 12 Republicans voting "yes." As of Monday, no Republican had said they would vote to add the language to the Defense Authorization Act, and a number of Democrats, including Landrieu, have remained silent.

"There's no way this could pass if Landrieu's not going to support it," Beck said. "We count her as a hoped-for 'no' vote."

The Migration Policy Institute estimates that as many 2.1 million people could benefit from the DREAM Act, but that probably only 825,000 of them would likely gain permanent legal status. There were no estimates for Louisiana, which, despite an influx of immigrant workers to help in the rebuilding of the New Orleans area in the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina, still has a relatively small immigrant population of any legal status.

Proponents, led by Sen. Dick Durbin, D- Ill., have described the potential beneficiaries as "American in every sense except their technical legal status. They are honor roll students, star athletes, talented artists and valedictorians."

Beck said such worthy people who might benefit from the act do exist;- "I really do think that there are illegal immigrant teenagers and young 20s who deserve a chance at an amnesty" but that "most don't come close to meeting those poignant stories."

The first order of business, he said, is to eliminate the conditions that continue to lure people to cross the border illegally in search of work.

The crux of Vitter's concern is that "at a time when many Americans cannot afford to send their children to college at all, this bill would allow states to provide in-state tuition to illegal aliens who would displace legal residents competing for those taxpayer subsidies."

Vitter has sought to invoke the issue of illegal immigration in his Senate race against Rep. Charlie Melancon, D-Napoleonville. His one television ad included an image of three menacing-looking Hispanic males, over which was written, "Melancon Voted for Benefits for Illegals." That was a reference to a close, mostly party-line vote in 2007 on a Republican amendment to ensure that only legal residents receive any assistance through the federal Affordable Housing Fund, a concern Democrats said was already dealt with in the bill.

The DREAM Act has the active backing of the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops.

But, the Rev. Thomas Greene, who recently moved from New Orleans to Washington to become Secretary for Social and International Ministries for the Jesuit Conference, expressed concern that the effort to add the DREAM Act to the defense bill not become simply an act of symbolic politics that ultimately diminishes the chances for a genuine effort at broader reform.

"We support the DREAM Act, but we really don't want to give up the larger dream, which is comprehensive immigration reform," Greene said.

www.nola.com

Please include Sen. Landrieu in your calls. Her number: 202- 224-5824.

Originally Posted by Populist

Please include Sen. Landrieu in your calls. Her number: 202- 224-5824.

Wasn't she Involved In the "Louisiana Purchase" (Strike One) She voted for Obamacare (Strike Two).... If she votes for the Dream Act... (Strike Three) Your out of here !!!! Good talking points....