Will Democrats Pass The DREAM Act This Time? Prolly Not

Do you remember the disappointment you felt when the DREAM Act didn’t pass? I do, it was a heavy kind of disappointment, the kind you know will last for a long time. Because you had to figure at the time, here you have a Democratic majority in both houses of Congress, the president has said he supports this legislation, it’s got to pass — right?

Wrong.

The DREAM Act didn’t pass in December largely because five senate Democrats voted against the measure. Oh, and another was busy at a Christmas party. But now that unauthorized crossings are at an historic low, in other words the border is secure, we can focus on this, right? No.

Kind of puts the whole Latino voter thing into perspective, if you ask me. So here we have President Barack Obama making an appearance in El Paso, Texas to tout immigration reform, voice his support for the DREAM Act and the next day Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid re-introduces the bill to that house.

So what?

The point is I called the offices of the senators who voted no on this bill and only one of them got back to me — with a “no.” Which is to say, after several attempts to contact these politicos, they don’t really want to talk about the DREAM Act. Or perhaps they do, but only if they see their polling numbers are down with independents or conservative voters and they have to appear “tough” or strict on “national security.” Or something like that.

And I’m not even being snarky yet. My congressional D.C. chisme tells me that not only are there no votes to pass the DREAM Act, but nobody even wants to talk about the DREAM Act in public — which is consistent with my not hearing back for over a week from the no vote senators. So here’s a breakdown of either what the senators in question have told me, or what they have told other media outlets about possibly voting for, or against, the re-introduced DREAM Act.

Max Baucus – Montana

Univisón reported that Baucus has said he would not vote for the DREAM Act. His office did not respond to emails or messages from News Taco.

Kay Hagan – North Carolina

Her office did not respond to messages left at her office.

Joe Manchin – West Virginia

Missed the vote because he was at a Christmas party, has not endorsed the new DREAM Act.

Ben Nelson – Nebraska

Spokesman Jake Thompson told News Taco: “Senator Nelson opposes the DREAM Act  at this point because it should be considered as part of comprehensive immigration legislation, which shouldn’t be addressed until after the border is secure.”

And when will that be, News Taco asked him. “Until the problems that clearly are at the border with a major amount of drug smuggling and a significant amount of illegal immigration, until that is clearly tackled effectively.” Down to zero, or what? When will the “problem” be solved? “I’m not going to say down to zero, but numbers are still significant.”

Mark Pryor – Arkansas

No response after multiple messages.

Jon Tester – Montana

No response after multiple messages, but Politico reported that Tester opposes the new DREAM Act.

Follow Sara Inés Calderón on Twitter @SaraChicaD