DREAM Act Closer To Becoming A Reality: Bill Coming To Floor Vote, Senators Speak Out In Support

Ryan Grim contributed to this report.

WASHINGTON -- Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.) announced on Tuesday that he is moving on a major piece of immigration legislation in the coming days, bringing the DREAM Act one step closer to becoming a reality. His comments followed a meeting with the Democratic caucus, in which several senators vocally urged their colleagues to make the legislation a priority.

In the caucus meeting, Reid discussed DREAM Act, and according to a Democratic source, Sen. Maria Cantwell (D-Wash.) was "very very vocal" in telling the other lawmakers that they need to make the vote a priority.

Cantwell "spoke up first from the crowd and said this is something that's really important for the caucus to do," said the source, who pointed out that her comments were notable and welcomed because while she strongly supports the DREAM Act, she hasn't been one of the most outspoken leaders on the issue.

"I've been in the Senate since 2001, and I just remember Republicans being passionate about it and sponsoring the bill. One of the most passionate speeches I heard was Orrin Hatch in the Judiciary Committee," said Cantwell in an interview with The Huffington Post Thursday afternoon. "And the fact that we've been working on it for so long and Republicans were so supportive of it and then somehow took a right turn or something and now won't pass the bill -- to me, it's important to get it done."

"Maria always is passionate," Sen. Mark Udall (D-Colo.) told HuffPost on Tuesday. "She's always great."

Multiple sources also confirmed to HuffPost that Sens. Michael Bennet (D-Colo.) and Barbara Boxer (D-Cali.) also spoke up, saying they would not be in the room today if not for the support of Latino voters. Both senators are strong supporters and co-sponsors of the DREAM Act.

Indeed, advocacy organizations have noted that Latino voters turned out in strong numbers for Democrats in November's elections and seemed to tip the scales in close races out West, such as the California, Colorado and Nevada Senate races.

Cantwell, who is up for reelection in 2012, also predicted that Republicans could take a hit at the polls if they continue to oppose immigration reform.

"I think Western states are states where populations are looking at this issue," she said. "I know there are lots of educational institutions in the state of Washington that are paying attention to this, and yes -- people want to know if you have a student who has reached top honors at their high school and all of a sudden now get accepted to Yale or Harvard and can't get in because they don't have a Social Security number or the status to do so."

According to a senior Democratic Senate aide, Sens. Claire McCaskill (Mo.), Kay Hagan (N.C.) and Mark Pryor (Ark.) are the three Democratic senators who have not yet stated a position on the DREAM Act and could be potential "yes" votes. There was some chatter amongst pro-DREAM Act supporters in recent days that Sen. Ben Nelson (D-Neb.) could also be on board, but his office confirmed to HuffPost that he is voting "no."

On the Republican side, Sen. George LeMieux (Fla.) is considered a "big maybe," and Democrats anticipate that Sens. Robert Bennett (Utah) and Richard Lugar (Ind.) will support the legislation.

LeMieux, however, told Politico on Tuesday that he isn't going to support the DREAM Act until the border is secure and the Bush-era tax cuts are extended.

Pro-DREAM Act advocates have been aggressively trying to ensure congressional support for for the legislation in the final days, with a group of progressive organizations unveiling a six-figure ad campaign in English and Spanish, targeting senators whose votes are crucial for passage.

Comments

[MikeyJaii]

11:39 PM on 12/20/2010

Are we Americans really letting this happen?

[SonyaInTx]

10:52 AM on 12/05/2010

Where is Sarah Palin on this issue, after she's spent so much time squawking about Obama needing to "man up" and tackle illegal immigration?

All of the republicans and tea baggers are cowards.....

[comer23]

02:10 PM on 12/02/2010

As anybody here been through the immigration process. I think not. Most of us won't even pass the written part of the test. I for one don't believe the sins of the parents should belong to the children. If it were true I guess if your mom or pop stolen from someone or even killed some body, by some people's logic their kids are just as guilty as the parents.

[massjim]

02:37 PM on 12/02/2010

But ... if a child applies for benefits under the Dream Act, doesn't it then follow that the authorities should prosecute/deport the parents, who have and are still committing a crime?

What other crime is there that a child could confess their parents committed and have authorities ignore?

[spytheweb]

04:12 AM on 12/08/2010

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[enlightenedgirl]

01:16 PM on 12/02/2010

It's time to figure this thing out and I for one am glad I voted for Boxer who is a champion of this bill. If anyone knows undocumented workers it is California. We were the state after all where Governor Ronnie Reagan granted amnesty to 2 million undocumented workers with a pen stroke. The problem is he didn't address what comes next with the continuing flow of people looking for a better life. If no one hired undocumented workers we wouldn't have a problem. But cheap labor is candy to the Corporatist Republicans. They started the ball rolling in their quest for profit and they aren't about to give it up. But now we have an American society where a large chunk are working and living here and they aren't citizens. We did this to ourselves, now let's fix it and be the nation we were meant to be, a nation of Immigrants living together, looking/working for a better life.

[charles77]

11:59 AM on 12/01/2010

Most people are angry because our government just won’t stop lying to us.
And before any one gets upset, that is GOP and DEM governments, it is both sides.
Maybe if our laws on immigration were enforced for a while, we would not like them and want them changed. But what we know we don’t like is being played for fools by our own government.

We were told in 1986 under the Simpson-Mazzoli Act,
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Immigration_Reform_and_Control_Act_of_1986
that if we just legalized the illegals, then no more would come, how did that work out?
We were told in 1986 that if we would agree to grant amnesty, then the federal government would enforce our immigration laws and all future immigration would be legal, and all these years latter they still refuse to do it. We legalized 4 million and 15 million more came!

The DEMs say “if we just knew who was employing these workers we would fine them”
The GOPs say “if we just knew where the illegals were we would deport them”.

Both DEM and GOP Governments knew we had 15 million illegal workers in this country, they KNOW where almost each and every one is employed, they KNOW who is employing almost every one and their employers MAILING ADDRESS. They play us for complete fools! And we are tired of it!

You don’t believe that?
Read our own government website:

http://www.ssa.gov/legislation/nomatch2.htm

[dtairtime]

12:42 PM on 12/01/2010

fav'd - wish I could fan you again.

There isn't one magic answer that will cure the problem. Amensty has already been tried SEVEN times and the problem just gets worse so we know it won't help if we do it again. If this passes we can expect a flood over the border and why not? We will have given them yet another reason and reward to come here illegally.

[kbatch]

12:54 PM on 12/01/2010

Flow of immigrants goes both ways--increases during more prosperous times in the US, declines during recessions. With more border enforcement, the flow stops and there is more reluctance to leave. And when you make it impossible to enter legally and cause border bottlenecks, you get hundreds of dead people in the Sonora desert, including a girl in her early teens named Jasmine. Where's the concern for the illegal Canadians?

[Barzh]

02:36 PM on 12/01/2010

It doesn't get worse, we have immigration levels lower than 7 years ago, our border is tight enough as it is, we're throwing money at it just because it's popular to be afraid of its "porousness."

Let's blame 12 million individuals for the problems of the other 300 million. It's nothing new, foreigners are always a scapegoat in any nation.

[Amy Mellenhead Mcmullet]

11:49 AM on 12/01/2010

No To The Dream Act!
Blame The Parents, They Are The Guilty Party!
We Owe Then Nothing!
Allow Them to Stay Until They Finish High School, Then They Can Take They FREE Education They Received And Apply It At Their Home Country!

[kbatch]

12:50 PM on 12/01/2010

My, what a compassionate person. Those of us who are Christians have no choice. Those nations who don't welcome immigrants are the accursed nations. (Matthew 25:31-45) And you don't have to be Christian to know how cruel it is to send young people who haven't known any other country or culture back to a place where they didn't grow up.

[Viper1st]

02:45 PM on 12/01/2010

Guess the USA is not one of those accursed nations (Matthew 25:31-45)

Over 1 million legal immigrants are allowed into the USA each year ~ through the front door.

More that any other nation on earth ~ guess the USA must be God's country

Where's the compassion for the children of American citizens - 16 million Americans, many with children, are out of work, in part due to 11 million illegal scabs taking Amerians' jobs at half-price wages

It's cruel to put the special interests of illegal scabs' children ahead of those of American children

[iuriggs6]

11:11 AM on 12/01/2010

Send them home, let them apply legally for citizenship and then, if they are granted it let them enlist in the armed forces...

[Soule23]

11:15 AM on 12/01/2010

Will you be serving in the interlude?

[iuriggs6]

01:09 PM on 12/01/2010

I would if I could. My many surgeries and decrepit body preclude me from doing so.

[CanisLatrans]

11:34 AM on 12/01/2010

The problem with that is that legal immigration is slow and expensive.

And, BTW, immigrants can enlist in the armed forces already and serve as their immigration status is shepherded through.

[dtairtime]

12:46 PM on 12/01/2010

It's slow because far more then the record number we allow would love to come here. We are taking in far more then we can supply infrastructure and natural resources to already.

It's expensive because taxpayers shouldn't be forced to fund foreigners coming here any more then we already do. The process is subsidized already and this bill would cost us thousands for every applicant since they would pay nothing!

The only way to change those two things are to open the borders even more - which will have dire environmental consequences and tax citizens huge amounts so immigrants can come her for free. There simply isn't any other way to change those things.

[CanisLatrans]

10:51 AM on 12/01/2010

The biggest problem with all these immigration "reforms" is that they fail to address the real problem: these people are not coming to America to be citizens because they enjoy the ideology... they come here to make a fast buck doing work no one here will do. Now here's the kicker--

-- companies hire these people precisely because they are illegals and have no rights! They can be worked 12 hours a day for pennies, with no breaks, with no benefits or insurance, and they have no recourse to complain. As soon as you make them citizens, they have rights, and-- "poof!"-- they are fired and replaced with a fresh crop of exploitable illegals.

THAT's the problem. It's not ideology or race, but just the brutal truth of an economic system that practically demands the use of super-cheap, exploitable and expendable workers. If you had American citizens doing this work, each individual orange and apple would be $5.00. The flipside is, you can "outsource" farming and buy from other countries, which is strategically unwise and there is even less opportunity to make sure the food is inspected for safety.

The immigration situation in America is not just one thing that can be solved with one idea, it is a Gordian knot of multiuple, inter-related problems. The big picture has to be tackled or it is all for nothing. We need to dramatically re-think our very food supply system in this country from the ground up.

[randyjet]

11:06 AM on 12/01/2010

The cost of labor for ag products is a very small part of the cost. The wages could double with only a small increase of a penny per pound. It is also obscene to justify slave labor on the basis of cheap products.

[Soule23]

11:18 AM on 12/01/2010

Many fruit pickers in the Northeast and Northwest are paid in excess of $.25 per pound, which isn't bad if you can pick 50 or 60 pounds per hour.

[CanisLatrans]

11:36 AM on 12/01/2010

Believe me, I'm not justifying slavery for cheap goods. I think it's evil. The problem is, the system as it is is supported by "the market" --people finding the cheapest goods possible and not questioning the source (which is why I don't believe Lolbertarian utopia snake oil).

[Soule23]

11:17 AM on 12/01/2010

Ag workers make over $10/hr on average. Taken together with the fact that they are usually provided housing and other bennies by their employers, that is not bad.

[CanisLatrans]

11:38 AM on 12/01/2010

Then why is it necessary to bring in abuse-able illegals? If it was such a great life, Americans would be doing it.

And remember, the thing about "housing & medical care provided by the plantation owner" is a frequent rationale used by neo-Confederates to explain what a fine and beneficial system Southern slavery was.

[Matthew Kolken]

09:41 AM on 12/01/2010

Children should not face deportation to places that they have no memory of, and have no family to return to. The DREAM Act is the right thing to do and must pass.

Call your Senators today, and tell them to vote "YES" for the DREAM Act.

[juslin217]

11:04 AM on 12/01/2010

no, call and tell them No...no amnesty for illegals..it will just encourage more, and we cannot afford this anymore!

[Soule23]

11:20 AM on 12/01/2010

Have you done a thoughtful, unbiased study to figure out whether immigrants are a net drain on society? Economically, their contribution is significant. By "afford" I must assume that you are speaking of something outside of economic cost.

[CanisLatrans]

11:41 AM on 12/01/2010

Actually, we do need to bring in new workers, because our birth rates are not keeping up with our retirement rates.

[juslin217]

11:21 AM on 12/01/2010

doing whats right is taking care of cour own citizens first...sorry be we can't afford to sve the whole world anymore..

[Trizah7]

09:25 AM on 12/01/2010

If this bill passes, the real reform that is Immigration reform will NEVER happen. Forget this watered down bill and handle the elephant in the room.

**Haters in 3, 2, 1............GO!

[Soule23]

09:46 AM on 12/01/2010

Their idea of immigration reform is on par with what the Germans did to their no-longer-welcome "outsiders" in the 30's.

[Just-a-Guy]

01:10 PM on 12/01/2010

Really? Ovens are being prepped?

You wanna re-think your analogy?

Probably not. LOL

[Jetwash]

09:25 AM on 12/01/2010

Reid just modified the DREAM ACT. Here are the new provisions:

– 10 years of temporary status vs. the previous 6 years (can't apply for permanent legal residency for 10 years)

– Specifically barring DREAMers from access to health care subsidies etc. (To satisfy those people who fear paying for other people's health care especially if they are minorities)

– Age cap is 30 vs. the previous of 35 (To satisfy critics who say someone who is 35 is not a kid even though they were brought here as a child)

– Removal of the language that would have not punished states for providing in-state tuition

There you have it. That's called compromising. What will the Republican response be on this important issue? NO. And that is what's wrong with the current political state. One party has decided that yielding anything means losing and obstructing everything means winning. They don't care one wit for solving issues, problems, and that goes beyond immigration into everything.

[Soule23]

09:48 AM on 12/01/2010

All they care about is keeping the knuckledraggers happy enough to fork over all of their wealth to the richest of the rich.

[brookmo]

08:24 AM on 12/01/2010

The Dream Act is a nightmare for American citizens and LEGAL immigrants.

[Soule23]

08:58 AM on 12/01/2010

In what way? You're just posturing.

[dtairtime]

11:12 AM on 12/01/2010

OK

The real problems are:
1. It allows these now "only" 30 year old children to petition to daisy chain in their parents and thus reward them too.
2. They can have 2 criminal cinvictions and still must be allowed in and there is no provision to not permit any known gang memebers.
3. They pay nothing for the application process - which is expensive. So taxpayers will pay for the background checks, the paperwork, the medical checks, etc.
4. There is no end date - so as long as illegals keep bringing their kids here they can keep applying.
5. They cannot be deported for any reason once they apply.
6. They are given amnesty for any related crimes like ID theft, tax fraud, etc.

These are all things NO citizen can do and NO legal immigrant can get away with - just illegals.

Then we need to look at:
1. Removing the hardship waiver which allows them to not serve and not go to any college.
2. Make it a requirement to graduate a 4 year college with at least a 3.0 or serve for 4 years - no exceptions.


So anyone with enough respect for us and this country to try to wait, pay the fees and go through the long process to come here legally should be livid.

[broui]

09:43 AM on 12/01/2010

Support it or be quiet.

[juslin217]

11:14 AM on 12/01/2010

we have the right to disagree in this country, so why don't you be quiet!!

[eljefefx]

07:59 AM on 12/01/2010

I for one am happy that my tax dollars are going to pay for the education of illegal immigrants at the expense of our own citizens.

[Soule23]

09:01 AM on 12/01/2010

Education pays to dividends to society. Legalization pays dividends to society. I am happy to pay for their education if it means the end of the hate-based caste system that Republicans have preferred as an immigration policy for the past thirty years.

[broui]

09:45 AM on 12/01/2010

They are not going "at the expense" of our own citizens.

I teach. Separate money. Separate classrooms until they are mainstreamed. Completely false notion spread by the right.

[Soule23]

09:49 AM on 12/01/2010

F&F

[frixx]

10:23 PM on 12/09/2010

Are you really that clueless?

The LA Unified School district is broke and inept.

Of course they are trying to teach in what, 128 different languages? Impossible.

So the only thing they are succeeding at is the astronomical drop out rate of more than 60%.

English only.
Bring back the draft.
Enforce existing immigration law.
Seal the Border.
And get the Unions out of the Schools.

[Overd0g2]

07:41 AM on 12/01/2010

It's important for Americans to subsidize the education of illegal foreigners over their own children. Makes perfect sense.

[juslin217]

11:06 AM on 12/01/2010

grow up, no one is talking ethnic cleansing here...

[pvbeachbum]

07:34 AM on 12/01/2010

if senator lemioux supports the Dream Act during this lame duck session, he can forget about running against bill nelson in 2012, because he'll never get the vote. Amnesty for illegals, affirmative action in education (illegals go to the front of the "acceptance"); and taxpayer funding for illegal aliens education....give us all a break? CALL YOUR SENATOR TODAY TO DEMAND A 'NO" VOTE FOR ILLEGAL ALIENS.

[Soule23]

09:02 AM on 12/01/2010

You're "facts" are fictitious.

[Jetwash]

09:27 AM on 12/01/2010

These are all fibs.

[Soule23]

09:49 AM on 12/01/2010

F&F