Posted by: on Tuesday, November 30th, 2010 to Poli-tics me off!

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By Exiled Writer (political contributor to chismetime.com)

This past Monday, the U.S. Senate will be debating the possible passage of the Development Relief Education for Alien Minors Act (DREAM ACT). This bill has been introduced as a stand alone bill on November 17 by Senator Harry Reid and will not include other amendments like it once did when Don’t Ask Don’t Tell was added in September (see We Have a Dream! Article on chismetime.com) The stand alone DREAM Act faces some opposition, but it is still likely that it may pass. Democrats in the House and Senate are pushing for their last chance of immigration reform before the more conservative Congress begins the new session in January.

 If DREAM Act is passed it will provide a conditional legal status for undocumented children who graduated high school, go to college or join the military for two years. According to the non-partisan Migration Policy Institute 2.1 million people would be eligible for legal status under Dream Act but only about 825,000 would be eligible to meet citizenship requirements.

DREAM Act has been losing some bipartisan support from the Republicans in Congress. Opponents of the DREAM Act believe that the requirements are not strict enough and has been considered another form of amnesty. Opponents state that DREAM Act as it stands now will allow undocumented students to apply for federal loans that are eligible to legal immigrants and U.S. born students and it will unfairly reward families who broke immigration laws. Ira Melham of the Federation for American Immigration Reform claims that DREAM Act would also grant legal status to anyone who obtains a GED and takes a couple of classes at a community college.

 Democrats in the Senate are also introducing alternate versions of the bill. Senator Dick Durbin (D-IL) introduced an alternate bill that would lower the limit from age 35-30 for those who were eligible to fall under DREAM Act conditions.

 It is still too close to call whether or not the DREAM Act will pass the Senate. If it does pass, it will be returned to the House where it will be pushed for legislation and hopefully signed by President Obama 

 Stayed tuned!

 Sources:

Mercury News



One Response to “ Push for DREAM Act in Lame Duck Congress! ”

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