Anti-DREAM Act Nebraska Sen. Ben Nelson To Retire

Nebraska Sen. Ben Nelson–D is set to retire, according to Politico. Remember Nelson as one of 5 Senate Democrats who were instrumental in voting down the DREAM Act this time last year.

The speculation is that Nelson would have had a hard time holding onto his seat, given campaigning by Republicans in that state. This complicates things for either the DREAM Act or comprehensive immigration reform, given that Nelson’s  spokesman previously told NewsTaco  that 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, NewsTaco 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.”

Which, as we know given low crime rates and immigration numbers, is just an excuse to say no. This may complicate things a bit. Will a Republican senator from  Nebraska be more likely to pass conference of immigration reform or the DREAM Act?