Reform

Reform

The Emperor (and the Anti-Fourteenth Amendment Crowd) Have No Clothes

The Emperor (and the Anti-Fourteenth Amendment Crowd) Have No Clothes

What a difference a few weeks can make. Just last month, the papers were filled with stories about the amazing feats of DREAM Act students, whose commitment and love for this country is boundless, even as they risk deportation in order to tell their stories. This week, the papers are filled with stories of vicious state legislators who want to turn back the clock on civil rights by stopping “an invasion of illegal aliens” through an end to birthright citizenship. Where the DREAM Act movement is about hope and opportunity, this ugly new attempt to change the Fourteenth Amendment is about hate and deprivation. Read More

President Obama Affirms Desire to Reform Immigration Next Session

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

Building on a DREAM: What the Obama Administration Can Do Right Now to Fix Immigration

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 Vote on DREAM Act Tomorrow

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

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

White House Continues Drumbeat for DREAM

White House Continues Drumbeat for DREAM

Amidst the steady stream of action by DREAM Act supporters over the last few weeks—candlelight vigils, hunger strikes, Hill visits—the White House has also upped its game, turning out its political heavyweights to emphasize the importance of DREAM. This morning, Under Secretary of Defense for Personnel and Readiness Dr. Clifford Stanley joined White House Director of Intergovernmental Affairs, Cecilia Munoz, to discuss how passage of the DREAM Act would benefit military readiness. This marks yet another showing of support by the Obama Administration in recent weeks as Secretary of Education Arne Duncan, Secretary of Commerce Gary Locke, Defense Secretary Robert Gates and Secretary of Homeland Security Janet Napolitano have all spoken publically on the benfits of DREAM. Although President Obama has always been a supporter of the bill, this heightened push is only the most recent evidence that immigration remains a priority for the White House—both on its merits and as a potent political symbol in 2012. The Senate is likely to vote on whether to invoke cloture on the DREAM Act tomorrow. Read More

Where’s the Valor? DHS Uses Discretion to Deport, Rather than Assist, Foreign-Born

Where’s the Valor? DHS Uses Discretion to Deport, Rather than Assist, Foreign-Born

Ever since DHS announced that it had removed more people from the United States than ever before—a record-breaking 392,862—in October, it has relied on that number as a defense from attacks that the Administration isn’t tough on immigration enforcement. Today, however, the Washington Post suggests that ICE may have gone to extraordinary means to reach that goal by relying on increased offers of “voluntary return”—that is, voluntary departure from the U.S. without an immigration order. The Center for Investigative Reporting’s Andrew Becker reported that ICE loosened the restrictions for who could be offered voluntary return rather than appearing before an immigration judge: Read More

Why the DREAM Act Just Makes Sense

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

How Much Conservative Muscle Will It Take To Lift the DREAM Act?

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

New DHS Data Highlights Benefits of Integration Requirements

New DHS Data Highlights Benefits of Integration Requirements

We want legal permanent residents (LPRs) to become U.S. citizens and fully participate in civic life—and research shows they are, in fact, doing just that. DHS recently presented new data on two programs for legal permanent residence (LPR) status—one that required immigrants to learn English and U.S. history, and one that did not. They found that those who were required to learn English and history (which are also requirements for U.S. citizenship) are naturalizing at higher rates. Read More

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