DREAM Act Goes to Senate

The US House of Representatives got it together and passed the controversial DREAM Act legislation by a vote of 216-198. So that much is done. What comes next, though, may not be so easy. The DREAM Act does not have as many supporters in the US Senate and a vote there is expected today.

The Washington Post reports:

“…it’s unlikely Democrats can muster the 60 votes needed to advance it past opposition by Republicans and a handful of their own members.
“It’s an uphill struggle,” Sen. Dick Durbin of Illinois, the No. 2 Democrat, acknowledged.”

President Barak Obama has been pushing for passage of the Act; he’s in dire need of friends these days, his tax compromise is not popular among some of his supporters and he may be looking to Latinos to have his back. He’s also in a hurry to see that it gets done:

“With the GOP taking control of the House and representing a stronger minority in the Senate next year, failure to enact the legislation by year’s end dims the prospects for action by Congress to grant a path toward legalization for the nation’s millions of undocumented immigrants.”

The DREAM gives a chance for legal residency status to young undocumented immigrants who:

• were brought to the US before the age of 16.
• have been here for five years.
• graduated from high school or gained an equivalency degree.
• joined the military.
• attended college.

We’ll keep an eye on the Senate proceedings for you and keep you up to date.