Analysis: Senate Democrats Re-Introduce DREAM Act

President Barack Obama made a first push for immigration reform yesterday in a speech in El Paso, Texas, and today his fellow Democrats in the Senate followed suit by re-introducing the DREAM Act in that body. Before we get too excited, there are a few things we should consider:

• The Democrats couldn’t pass the DREAM Act when they had a bigger majority in both houses, so, now with only a slim majority in the Senate, Republicans will have to have a sudden change of heart to get this legislation passed this time.
• Obama has officially kicked off his 2012 election, so, we have to think about his sudden focus on immigration (read: Latino voters) in that context.
• Republicans are still obsessed with border security, despite the fact that unauthorized crossings are down, and violence on the U.S. side of the border is less common than inside the country.
• This was Obama’s first visit to the border since becoming president, and interestingly, he did it away from big cities where he would have been booed by protestors.
• Perhaps most importantly, there were a total of five Democratic senators who voted against passing the DREAM Act, which is ultimately, the reason it failed in the first place. Never forget these names: Mark Pryor of Arkansas, Jon Tester of Montana, Max Baucus of Montana, Kay Hagan of North Carolina and Ben Nelson of Nebraska.

All that said, The New York Times reports:

Senator Harry Reid of Nevada, the majority leader, along with Senators Dick Durbin of Illinois and Robert Menendez of New Jersey, said the Senate will revive the Dream Act, one of the few signature pieces of Democratic legislationthat failed during the lame-duck session of the last Congress, when Democrats controlled both chambers.

The bill would provide legal status and a path to citizenship to young people who were brought to the United States illegally as children and receive a college education or want to enter the military. Under the bill, children under 15, who have been in the country continually at least five years, present “good moral character,” graduate from high school or obtain a G.E.D., and complete two years of college or military service in good standing would qualify.

We sincerely hope that, unlike last time, Obama doesn’t do too little too late on this point. As a (hopefully) future parent and a professional in this country, I don’t want to live in a world where there are thousands upon thousands of educated professionals being tossed out because of stubbornness on the part of politicos. Think about the world in context, China and India and Latin America are growing as economies and powers, and I believe that in this country, we are going to need all the good talent we can get to compete.

Follow Sara Inés Calderón on Twitter @SaraChicaD