Immigration Reform
The last time Congress updated our legal immigration system was November 1990, one month before the World Wide Web went online. We are long overdue for comprehensive immigration reform.
Through immigration reform, we can provide noncitizens with a system of justice that provides due process of law and a meaningful opportunity to be heard. Because it can be a contentious and wide-ranging issue, we aim to provide advocates with facts and work to move bipartisan solutions forward. Read more about topics like legalization for undocumented immigrants and border security below.
Senate Fails to Bring DREAM Act to Final Vote
Today, the Senate failed to achieve the 60 votes necessary to achieve cloture on the DREAM Act, a bill to grant hundreds of thousands of undocumented children a chance to gain legal status if they enroll in college or join the military. 55 Senators voted in favor of the motion to proceed to the final vote on DREAM and 41 against. The vote broke largely along partly lines with Senate Republicans citing procedural arguments to excuse themselves from voting yes. However, some Democrats abandoned their party and voted against it too, while some Republicans broke ranks and voted for cloture. Read More
Senior Department of Homeland Security Officials Support the DREAM Act
Before the scheduled DREAM Act vote Saturday, top Department of Homeland Security (DHS) officials hosted a press call on why the DREAM Act will enhance DHS’s ability to enforce immigration laws. U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) Director Alejandro Mayorkas, U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) Director John Morton and U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) Deputy Commissioner David Aguilar were on the call, discussing the important role the DREAM Act would play in promoting public safety through smart and effective immigration enforcement, as well as the preparedness of the administration. Read More
Senate Vote on DREAM Act Tomorrow
Last night, Senator Harry Reid filed cloture on the DREAM Act (in addition to a stand-alone repeal of Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell (DADT)), which sets the stage for a cloture vote on DREAM Saturday morning. If the Senate musters the 60 votes needed to proceed to the bill… Read More
A Plea from America’s Scholars
It Is Time For Congress To Take Action And Reform Our Nation’s Immigration Laws: A Plea From America’s Scholars Read More
Legislators in Key States Stand Up for DREAM
Today, a group of concerned state legislators from Colorado, Maine, Massachusetts, Texas and Utah joined forces to stand up for the DREAM Act. On a conference call this afternoon, these local legislators explained how DREAM would benefit their local communities and urged their senators—Sens. Snowe and Collins (R-ME), Sen. Brown (R-MA), Sens. Cornyn and Hutchison (R-TX), and Sen. Hatch (R-UT)—to pass the bill. Unlike certain state legislators who have proposed enforcement-only solutions to our immigration problems, these legislators are dedicated to common-sense immigration policy—policy which focuses on in-state tuition for immigrants and policies that help grow their state’s economies. Read More
State Lawmakers from Critical States Speak Out in Favor of DREAM Act
Washington D.C. – Today, a group of state legislators from Colorado, Massachusetts, Maine, Texas, and Utah participated in a briefing to share their support for federal legislation know as the DREAM Act. The bi-partisan DREAM Act passed the House of Representatives and awaits a final vote in the Senate in… Read More
Mayor Bloomberg: The DREAM Act Makes Dollars and Sense
New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg recently banded together with other titans of industry—media magnate Rupert Murdoch, Goldman Sach’s Lloyd Blankfein, Kenneth Chenault of American Express—to reiterate what academics and advocates have been saying for years: immigrants are critically important in “doing the work and creating the businesses that keep our economy strong and growing.” Mayor Bloomberg is one of the founders of Partnership for a New American Economy, a growing bipartisan group of mayors and business leaders who are urging others to consider the economic benefits of immigration reform. Secretary of Labor, Hilda Solis (the daughter of immigrants) also recently stepped forward to highlight the benefits of DREAM and the value of keeping talented students in the U.S. Read More
White House to Award Latino Civil Rights Advocate, Sylvia Mendez
Each year, the White House awards the Presidential Medal of Freedom—“the Nation’s highest civilian honor, presented to individuals who have made especially meritorious contributions to the security or national interests of the United States, to world peace, or to cultural or other significant public or private endeavors.” Among the recipients for the 2011 Medal of Freedom is civil rights activist Sylvia Mendez, whose story of strength and perseverance in the face of discrimination and bigotry is a tale from which everyone can take heart—especially DREAM Act students who face an uphill battle this month. Read More
Academic Community Rallies Behind DREAM Act
As public support for the DREAM Act continues to mount in the build up to a Senate vote, the academic community is stepping forward on behalf of undocumented youth who call America home. Today, noted immigration scholars from Princeton, the University of North Carolina, NYU, UC-Irvine, and the University of Washington banded together to discuss why punishing the children of undocumented immigrants is a bad idea and why NOT passing the DREAM Act would prevent undocumented youth from giving back to the American economy. Today’s discussion follows the release of a letter signed by nearly 300 scholars from the around the U.S. urging Congress to pass the DREAM Act. To date, at least 29 higher educations associations including U.S. Students Association (USSA) and the College Board and presidents and chancellors from more than 73 colleges and universities have publicly endorsed the bill. Read More
Say What? Senators’ Reasons for Opposing the DREAM Act in Dire Need of Truthiness
After Sen. Harry Reid tabled a vote on the DREAM Act this week in order to take up the passed House version of the bill next week, thousands of students, advocates and community leaders have and will continue to urge their Senators to pass the DREAM Act. Unfortunately, some of these calls are being answered with excuses—excuses which are in dire need of what Comedy Central’s Stephen Colbert would call “truthiness.” Disagreeing with a specific piece of legislation based on its merits is one thing, but making up your own facts out of political convenience is just plain wrong. It’s also an incredible disservice to your constituency and the American public. The following are excuses reiterated by Senators who have previously voted for the DREAM Act but who may now vote against it. The facts follow their excuses. Read More
Make a contribution
Make a direct impact on the lives of immigrants.
