Reform
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
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
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
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
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?
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
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
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
Mormon Church, Business Leaders Endorse Utah Compact for Immigration Reform
Utah state Rep. Stephen Sandstrom’s argument that there is “popular support for Arizona’s controversial legislation [SB 1070]” just got a little thinner. A number of state and local governments, corporations, businesses, community and faith groups recently signed the Utah Compact—a declaration of five principles created “to guide Utah’s immigration discussion.” The guidelines are a far cry from Rep. Sandstrom Arizona-like bill (the Illegal Immigration Enforcement Act), a bill which would require Utah police to check the immigration status of anyone they arrest if they have “reasonable suspicion” that the individual is undocumented. The broad support for the compact, which includes groups as large as the Mormon Church, already has some people writing the obituary for Sandstrom’s bill. While Sandstrom isn’t ready to back down yet, the bigger question is whether Utah lawmakers will listen to such a wide and growing demand for a federal immigration overhaul. Read More
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