WASHINGTON-The Senate evoked cloture last week, voting 56-43 not to proceed to debate on the National Defense and Authorization Act. The bill included a repeal of the controversial Don’t Ask Don’t Tell (DADT) military policy.
Slightly overshadowed by the DADT policy is the Development, Relief, and Education for Alien Minors (DREAM) Act, also attached as an amendment. The DREAM Act would allow young undocumented immigrants a path to citizenship if they were in the country before age 16 and present in the United States for five years before the law is enacted.
“The time to enact the DREAM Act as well as a Comprehensive Immigration Reform is now,” said Margaret Moran, president of the League of United Latin American Citizens, in a statement. “Passing this important piece of legislation is critical to get our nation moving forward, and we cannot afford to wait any longer.”
Prior to the vote, DREAM Act supporters gathered in cities across the United States to encourage their senators to support the bill.
Young DREAM Act supporters spent days camped out in front of Sen. John McCain’s Arizona offices ahead of the vote last Tuesday, to encourage the senator to support the DREAM Act. Fox News reported that the young protesters met with the senator as he left his office and attempted to deliver a letter to request a meeting with the senator, which he refused, prompting the protesters to place the letter on McCain’s car windshield.
“We’re not criminals; we want to be recognized; we want to be respected,” said Michael Nazario, DREAM Act supporter, in the Fox News report.
Sen. McCain did not vote in support of the DREAM Act, stating that it should not be attached to a Defense bill.
In May, student DREAM Act supporters blocked traffic on Wilshire Boulevard in Los Angeles, when they sat in a circle on the highway to draw attention to the DREAM Act. Protests have also taken place in Washington, D.C., Chicago, Massachusetts, southwest Florida, and New York-where the New York City Council met on Wednesday to discuss a resolution to support the DREAM Act.
Sen. Dick Durbin, (D-Ill.) and U.S. Secretary of Education Arne Duncan held a special press conference on Capitol Hill on Wednesday following the vote. Campus Progress, the United States Student Association, the League of Young Voters, and the General Alliance joined to discuss the next steps needed to pass the DREAM Act.
“I’m here to tell you that we’re not giving up. We’re going to continue to fight for the DREAM Act. … We are going to be prepared as soon as possible to offer the DREAM Act on the floor of United States Senate again,” said Durbin in a press conference video posted on his website.
Sens. Durbin and Richard Lugar, (R-Ind.) introduced the DREAM Act in March 2009.
The president expressed his support of the DREAM Act in a meeting in the Oval Office last week with Sen. Robert Menendez, and Reps. Nydia Velazquez and Luis Gutierrez. According to a statement issued by the White House, the president noted in the meeting that it is time to stop punishing innocent young people for the actions of their parents, especially when those youth grew up in America, and want to serve this country in the military, or pursue a higher education they have earned through academic excellence.
Slightly overshadowed by the DADT policy is the Development, Relief, and Education for Alien Minors (DREAM) Act, also attached as an amendment. The DREAM Act would allow young undocumented immigrants a path to citizenship if they were in the country before age 16 and present in the United States for five years before the law is enacted.
“The time to enact the DREAM Act as well as a Comprehensive Immigration Reform is now,” said Margaret Moran, president of the League of United Latin American Citizens, in a statement. “Passing this important piece of legislation is critical to get our nation moving forward, and we cannot afford to wait any longer.”
Prior to the vote, DREAM Act supporters gathered in cities across the United States to encourage their senators to support the bill.
Young DREAM Act supporters spent days camped out in front of Sen. John McCain’s Arizona offices ahead of the vote last Tuesday, to encourage the senator to support the DREAM Act. Fox News reported that the young protesters met with the senator as he left his office and attempted to deliver a letter to request a meeting with the senator, which he refused, prompting the protesters to place the letter on McCain’s car windshield.
“We’re not criminals; we want to be recognized; we want to be respected,” said Michael Nazario, DREAM Act supporter, in the Fox News report.
Sen. McCain did not vote in support of the DREAM Act, stating that it should not be attached to a Defense bill.
In May, student DREAM Act supporters blocked traffic on Wilshire Boulevard in Los Angeles, when they sat in a circle on the highway to draw attention to the DREAM Act. Protests have also taken place in Washington, D.C., Chicago, Massachusetts, southwest Florida, and New York-where the New York City Council met on Wednesday to discuss a resolution to support the DREAM Act.
Sen. Dick Durbin, (D-Ill.) and U.S. Secretary of Education Arne Duncan held a special press conference on Capitol Hill on Wednesday following the vote. Campus Progress, the United States Student Association, the League of Young Voters, and the General Alliance joined to discuss the next steps needed to pass the DREAM Act.
“I’m here to tell you that we’re not giving up. We’re going to continue to fight for the DREAM Act. … We are going to be prepared as soon as possible to offer the DREAM Act on the floor of United States Senate again,” said Durbin in a press conference video posted on his website.
Sens. Durbin and Richard Lugar, (R-Ind.) introduced the DREAM Act in March 2009.
The president expressed his support of the DREAM Act in a meeting in the Oval Office last week with Sen. Robert Menendez, and Reps. Nydia Velazquez and Luis Gutierrez. According to a statement issued by the White House, the president noted in the meeting that it is time to stop punishing innocent young people for the actions of their parents, especially when those youth grew up in America, and want to serve this country in the military, or pursue a higher education they have earned through academic excellence.
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