December 18, 2010 12:03 PM

ABC News’ Matthew Jaffe reports:

Senate Republicans today shot down the DREAM Act, an immigration measure that would have helped undocumented students who came to the US before age 16 to become legal residents after five years by completing higher education or military service.

The final tally of today’s procedural vote was 55-41, but the measure needed 60 votes to advance.

Senate Republicans argued that the bill amounted to amnesty, that it would impede the enforcement of immigration laws and that it failed to address the larger problem of border security. “Here we are in the final days of a lame-duck, some say dead-duck Congress, considering a bill that would create a major problem to the effective enforcement of immigration laws. People are not happy with us,â€