Legislation
Why the DREAM Act Just Makes Sense
The pieces may just be starting to fall together for passage of the DREAM Act as more and more high profile figures lend their support with one simple message—the DREAM Act just makes sense. After ten long years, the House looks poised to take up DREAM next week. House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer has declared that the Democrats believe they have the necessary votes to pass the legislation—and passage in the House could go a long way to creating the momentum needed for 60 votes in the Senate. The most obvious signal that DREAM might actually pass, however, is the increasingly desperate tone of anti-immigration groups, who are basically urging the public to call Congress and say that DREAM allows undocumented students to steal college slots, public benefits and jobs from Americans. Not only is this the same argument they trot out for every immigration issue, but it has been contradicted by so many sources that it sounds like an increasingly shrill cry of desperation. Read More
Investing in the American DREAM
Each year, tens of thousands of undocumented immigrant students graduate from American high schools and embark on uncertain futures. Their inability to legally work and receive financial aid stalls, detours, and derails their educational and economic trajectories. Most importantly, at any time, they can be deported to countries they barely know. The Development, Relief, and Education for Alien Minors (DREAM) Act is a federal bill aimed at providing immigration relief to these young people. The passage of this bill would grant many undocumented youth access to legal residency and federal financial aid—thus removing legal and economic barriers to higher education and increasing their contributions to America and the likelihood of upward mobility. Read More
Restrictionist Group Continues Cynical Legacy of Counting Costs While Ignoring Benefits
In a new report, the Center for Immigration Studies (CIS) paints a misleading financial portrait of the DREAM Act. The report, entitled Estimating the Impact of the DREAM Act, claims that the bill would be a burden on U.S. taxpayers and would “crowd out” native-born students in the… Read More
How Much Conservative Muscle Will It Take To Lift the DREAM Act?
While some would have you believe that immigration reform is a liberal issue championed only by Democrats, past debates and prior attempts to pass immigration reform have shown us that Republicans and conservatives are champions as well. Granted some of the most stalwart Republican supporters have recently turned their back on reasonable debate (think John McCain’s “build the dang fence” and Lindsey Graham’s summer flirtation with repealing birthright citizenship), yet immigration reform still enjoys the support of important conservative leaders—leaders like Senator Richard Lugar of Indiana and the Diaz-Balart brothers of Florida. Congress can’t pass the DREAM Act without Republican support, but how much conservative muscle will it take to finally make this bipartisan legislation a reality? Read More
Spin Control: Putting Myths about the DREAM Act Out to Pasture
As the DREAM Act continues to gather momentum during lame-duck, some conservative Congressional members are scrambling to brand the legislation as “amnesty” in an attempt to scare the American public. Among the myths is the idea that the DREAM Act’s passage would somehow cheat native born students out of opportunities. This tired effort to pit immigrants against native born is not only destructive, but has no basis in fact. It also ignores the economic benefits that come from legalizing a group of talented, hard working individuals who want nothing more than to contribute to America and repay the country for the opportunities they’ve been given. It’s hard to imagine, given the economic data and bipartisan support, how these hardliners can justify twisting the DREAM Act into a rhetorical ball of fear. Read More
Who Will Pass the DREAM Act Test?
After Senator Harry Reid’s announcement Wednesday that he will bring the DREAM Act to the Senate floor in the lame duck as a stand-alone bill, DREAM supporters gathered in Washington yesterday to plead their case. Yesterday’s events signaled the beginning of yet another intense campaign to pass the DREAM Act—a bill that would offer a path to legal status to those who have graduated from high-school, stayed out of trouble, and plan to attend college or serve in the U.S. military for at least two years. Although the DREAM Act has been backed by both Democrats and Republicans for nearly a decade, it has never become law—thanks, in part, to some members of Congress who would rather make political hay out of a piece of legislation that seeks to help students who, as outgoing Florida Republican Lincoln Diaz-Balart said, “are being punished for decisions not made by them.” This time around, however, the DREAM Act may represent more than just an up-or-down vote on a piece of immigration legislation, but rather, a true test of American values. Read More
The DREAM Act: Creating Economic Opportunities
There are an estimated 1.9 million undocumented children and young adults in the United States who might be eligible for legal status under the Development, Relief, and Education for Alien Minors Act (DREAM) Act. For many of these young people, the United States is the only home they know and English is their first language. Each year, tens of thousands of them graduate from primary or secondary school, often at the top of their classes. They have the potential to be future doctors, nurses, teachers, and entrepreneurs, but they experience unique hurdles to achieving success in this country. Through no fault of their own, their lack of status may prevent them from attending college or working legally. The DREAM Act would provide an opportunity for them to live up to their full potential and make greater contributions to the U.S. economy and society. Read More
New Report Describes Peril Immigrant Women Face in U.S. Food Industry
The Southern Poverty Law Center (SPLC) released a new report called Injustice on our Plates: Immigrant Women in the U.S. Food Industry which looks at the conditions under which immigrant women work. It documents and personalizes the stories of women who have made the dangerous journey to the U.S. seeking a better life for themselves and their families, only to end up working long hours under extremely difficult and dangerous conditions. Read More
Pelosi, Reid to Push DREAM Act in Lame Duck
Senator Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-NV), nearing the end of his reelection campaign last month, told Univision’s Jorge Ramos that, win or lose, he would bring up the DREAM Act during lame duck session. This week, Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi threw her support behind Sen. Reid, also advocating for a DREAM vote during lame duck. The DREAM Act, an immigration bill that would provide legal status to young people who graduate from high school and pursue college or military service, failed to reach a vote this September after Senate Republicans blocked the Defense Authorization Act, the bill which carried the DREAM Act as an amendment. Now many immigration advocates are looking down the legislative road and say bringing DREAM to a vote during lame duck—when Democrats still have the House and Senate—is the bill’s best chance of becoming law. Read More
Enforcing Your Way into the Red: Hazleton Could Learn an Expensive Immigration Lesson
Yet another locality learned the financial perils of passing an anti-immigrant law. Last Friday, a panel from the Third Circuit Court of Appeals upheld a district court decision to require the City of Hazelton, PA, to pay $2.4 million in legal fees to the Plaintiffs instead of their insurance carrier. The Plaintiffs (Pedro Lozano, Casa Dominicana of Hazleton Inc., Hazleton Hispanic Business Association and the Pennsylvania Statewide Latino Coalition) accumulated legal fees when they challenged the constitutionality of the Hazleton law—a law which would have fined landlords renting to undocumented immigrants, denied businesses permits if they employed undocumented immigrants, and had the town investigate the legal status of an employee or tenant upon request of any citizen, business, or organization. Read More
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