Attempt to Pass DREAM Act Stalls after Public Outcry

Attempt to Pass DREAM Act Stalls after Public Outcry
The efforts of Senator Dick Durbin (D-IL) and other amnesty proponents to amend the DREAM Act onto the Defense Authorization Bill (H.R. 1585) were scuttled last week after public outcry threatened to derail the Defense Bill entirely. Over the past two weeks tens of thousands of phone calls, emails and faxes in opposition to the DREAM Act barraged Senate offices, keeping Senator Durbin from finding the 60 votes he needed to proceed with the debate on his amendment. Although the Senator circulated various versions of the amendment and spent days trying to strike a deal behind closed doors, in the end he could not overcome public opinion. Wednesday evening, Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-NV) announced that the DREAM Act would not be brought to the floor as an amendment to the Defense Authorization Bill.

The DREAM Act would have granted amnesty to those who had entered the country before they were 16 and had lived here 5 years if they were in the military or school and under the age of 30. However, the age limit did not affect the ability of illegal aliens to receive retroactive benefits if they already met the other criteria of the amnesty program. In addition, illegal aliens who were granted legal status under the program would have been eligible to receive federal financial aid for college tuition and been able to claim residency for purposes of in-state tuition.

Although the DREAM Act stalled as an amendment to the Defense Authorization bill, Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-NV) promised to make every effort to return the legislation to the floor before the Thanksgiving recess. Reid declared: "We will move to proceed to this matter before we leave here. I'm going to do my utmost to do it by November 16."