Immigration Reform
President Obama Affirms Desire to Reform Immigration Next Session
Disappointed by Congress's failure to pass the DREAM Act during lame duck, President Obama made remarks today regarding the need to reform immigration in the next Congress. While the President acknowledged that border security is part of that conversation, he also acknowledged that "changing the politics" of how Congress and his administration engage the public on immigration is equally important—as is "doing right" by the many DREAM students who deserve a fair shot at the American dream. Read More
Not Without a Fight: DREAM Students Refuse to Back Down
Although the Senate failed to reach the 60 votes necessary to achieve cloture on the DREAM Act on Saturday, DREAM supporters are refusing to go down without a fight. As disappointment turns to anger, DREAM Activists are again turning up the heat with statements aimed at “political leaders who chose to obstruct progress for personal gain” and messages such as “We Won’t Forget How You Voted.” Thousands of DREAM supporters—who participated in a massive mobilization effort for the bill’s passage—are also turning a critical eye to the administration as they look ahead toward the road to reform. Read More
Building on a DREAM: What the Obama Administration Can Do Right Now to Fix Immigration
Last Saturday, the United States Senate took key votes on two social issues—Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell, the seventeen-year ban on gays serving openly in the military, and the DREAM Act, a vital piece of immigration reform that would have allowed thousands of undocumented young people a chance to go to college, serve in the military and earn legal status. Both bills had passed the House of Representatives, had the backing of the White House and the support of a majority of the public, but by a vote of 55 to 41, the Senate failed to invoke cloture and proceed to debate on the DREAM Act. While the Senate failed, however, the movement did not. Now, more than ever, the administration needs to capitalize on the momentum of the DREAM Act, continuing to push for both legislative and administrative reform. Read More
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
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
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
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