Today our Democracy was expanded when the U.S. Senate voted to allow gay men and women to serve proudly and openly in defense of our nation. But today Illinois Senator Mark Kirk joined a Republican filibuster and, with a minority of 41 votes, also blocked the DREAM Act from coming to a vote in the Senate. This effectively killed the hopes of thousands of undocumented immigrant children to earn their legal status by going to college or joining the U.S. military to defend our nation.
The action by this minority of Republican senators was a disgraceful action of partisan gamesmanship. Polls show that the overwhelming majority in the U.S. support the DREAM Act as a reasonable first step in solving our broken immigration system. In Illinois 79% of voters polled in the most recent election supported the DREAM Act, including 67% of those who voted for Sen. Kirk. Former Republican Governor Edgar penned a public call of support in the Tribune. Twelve Illinois college and university presidents signed a public letter calling for passage of DREAM. The DREAM Act had passed the House of Representatives, and the majority of the 100 Senators would have voted to pass it. But the DREAM Act will not be called for a vote this Congress.
Instead, the actions of Senator Kirk and this Republican minority to block a vote on the DREAM Act mean that the hopes of thousands of young people have been crushed today. These DREAMERS were brought here as minors by their parents. They know no other country, and have been educated here with taxpayer dollars. But now they cannot get work legally, cannot drive legally, cannot get loans or grants to go to college, have no path to become legal in the U.S., and cannot even join our military. They live their lives under the constant threat of deportation. Today's action means that when Cindy graduates from the University of Chicago this spring she will not be able to become a school teacher. It means that Edward cannot use the business degree he earned from the University of Illinois last year. It means that Ernesto cannot fulfill his dream to join the U.S. Marines.
In addition Sen. Kirk and his colleagues cheapened our American Democracy today. A Democracy is not real when it prevents some 12 million illegal workers who contribute with their toil in our fields, our restaurants, and our hotels from having any way at all of becoming legal. We cannot say we live in a great Democracy when we tell children that we will punish them with exclusion and condemn them to the margins because of the decisions of their parents. This is un-Democratic. It is also an attack on the deepest call of our faith to love and charity, which is why the leaders of Catholic, Evangelical, Jewish and Muslim faiths were united in support of the DREAM Act.
During his recent successful Senatorial campaign Sen. Kirk promised to work for bi-partisan solutions. He went on Spanish language T.V. promising to support Latino families. Then today he voted against Latino and other immigrant children. This will not be forgotten.
Republicans have shown no willingness to support any measure to fix our broken immigration system, other than border security measures. Therefore President Obama should declare a moratorium on the deportation of DREAM students and immigrant workers who have committed no crime.
But our faith in our Democracy and our religious faith is why we understand that we will eventually win this battle, for both the DREAM students and for their parents. The history of our nation is one of a constant struggle for inclusion in this Democracy. We fought to include slaves, and then women, and now immigrant youth and their parents. Today, even while the DREAM Act was failing, a simultaneous filibuster was defeated and now gays will be able to openly defend our nation. Democracy marches forward.
Politically the next several years look grim for DREAM students and their parents. The same Republican leaders who fought to defeat the DREAM Act and immigration reform now step into positions of greater power. But these Republican leaders have seen the historic mobilizations by Latinos and immigrants for immigration reform this year. They have seen the determined and effective leadership of DREAM students. They saw how an angered Latino electorate preserved Democrats in power in the Senate. They have seen that public opinion overwhelmingly supports the DREAM Act and legalization for the parents of the DREAMERS.
Just as blacks and women and gays are now equal in the U.S., so too will undocumented immigrants be able to come out of the shadows. The situation for immigrants today looks bad and the opposition seems united and unmoving. But in recent history we have seen seemingly unmovable forces against freedom come crashing down. We have seen the end of the oppression of the Shah of Iran, of Apartheid in South Africa, of the Soviet Iron Curtain, and of the Marcos dictatorship in the Philippines. The drive for freedom is strong, and the systematic exclusion of DREAM students and their parents from our American Democracy will come to a similar crashing end.
In Illinois we thank President Obama for his forceful support for the DREAM Act. We thank Senator Dick Durbin, Congressman Luis Gutierrez, and Congressman Jan Schakowsky for their tireless leadership for the DREAM Act and for legalization for the DREAMERS parents. We thank Congressmen Quigley, Bean, Foster, Jackson, Rush, Davis, Hare, and Halvorson for their consistent support. But to Senator Mark Kirk; to the united Republican Congressional delegation, led by Congressman Peter Roskam; as well as to Democrat Congressman Dan Lipinski -- every one of whom worked to block bi-partisan solutions for immigration reform and to filibuster the DREAM Act -- we say: "Shame!"
Follow Joshua Hoyt on Twitter: www.twitter.com/icirr
Mike Lux: Celebration and Mourning on the Same Day
HOW MANY AMERICAN KIDS WERE KILLED WHEN REAGAN LOWERED THE DRINKING AGE? 190,000 or more in just a couple of years ?
Those kids are not here to have NATIVE BORN children now are they ?
When it is all said and done it make no differenceÂÂ.
The USA needs a Fertility Rate of 3.1% to keep the population healthy or the USA become a country of OLD PEOPLE really fast.
The U.S. Fertility Rate has been 2.1 % for a long time Americans are not having kids !!!!!
They have become too GREEDY to share their time and money with Children!
They raising keeping DOGS and CATS !!!!!!!
You can't have wars and even a lot of jobs if your a Nation of Old People !!!!
How many Americans have we lost in this Generation from Wars ?
How many American were lost from Vietnam ?
Don't you get it? The Military Industrial Complex is getting rid of the Native Born American !
Russia had to pay Russians to have kids. Their nations populations was getting old so fast.
Don't want immigration HAVE KIDS; A LOT OF KIDS FAST !!!!!!!
First off comparing the rights of blacks, gays and women to that of people who have no right to be in this country is insane. Comparing their fight to that of Apartheid, or the Shah of Iran too is crazy. People born in another counrty and secretly entered this country is nothing like the fights of blacks, gays and women. The illegal being deported even if brought here by parents is not a 2010 version of Nelson Mandella.
I am glad this law failed, and will call my congressman, and senators vowing to vote against them next election if this law passes. These people need to immigate the proper way, not by default because their parents broke the law.
Lets take two 20 years college students. Both are very smart, both are hard working, but were born in "Country X" and both dream of being American citizens. Student A is going to a college in the nation of his birth. Student B is going to USC because his mother snuck him into this country 15 years ago. Why should student B get an advantage because his mother broke the law while student A had parents that did the right thing? Student A is being penalized because his parents did the right thing while Student B is a beneficiary of anothers illegal act.
The U.S. Fertility Rate has been 2.1 % for a long time.
They are doing everything they can to be good citizens, why not let them get their green card. Especially those that have fought in our Wars.
By the way America is a Continent, divided geographically into 3 parts South, Central, and North. The United States of America is the country that I'm a citizen of and was embroidered on my uniforms when I served in the U. S. Army.
And,in an old Nero Wolfe novel(He's a fictional deteective.Remember,my disclaimer re' not knowing your reading history.) he states;
"No.Sir. I merely used a commonly accepted verbal short hand.We all do that." perhaps, you feel I should use the term "Royal Gelatin ',rather than jello? Or perhaps,you really don't have anything of worth to say,and grasp at straws /
Corwin.Posessor of a really high IQ.
Instead of equating not having citizenship with being a shoplifter, people should ask WHY American citizens and companies have been hiring tens of millions of undocumented immigrants. They should ask are immigration laws right, are they fair, are they helpful? That's something worth debating, rather than, "What part of 'illegal' don't you understandÂ?" as though any law must be followed simply because it IS the law.
The spirit of this bill, to me, is that if you have been an upstanding and productive member of society then we will reward you for your deeds with citizenship. Since there are people who are already citizens that are definitely not upstanding, productive members of society I don't see why increasing the number of good people who are US citizens is so controversial. And the notion that they'd be taking American jobs is silly since once they become citizens they would be "their" jobs to take anyway.
http://news.yahoo.com/s/usnw/20101129/pl_usnw/DC08836_1
If they would of tightened up some of the policies I think this would of passed.
Being part of the democracy implies that you have the right to vote. As a legal immigrant I waited for nearly 11 years for that right while people take it upon themselves to march over the border or overstay visas - effectively abusing the system in every way imaginable. Breaking the law and inserting yourself into a society guarantees you nothing - least of all the right to participate in a democracy.
Do not try to tell me they are suddenly being excluded form the democratic process because they never were and the only "rights" they have are in fact privileges not rights - extended by teh constitution simply by the fact that they are on US soil.
The only democratic rights - are in their own country where they are still citizens and could vote if they wanted to!
This "anchor baby" rhetoric is poisoning not just your mind but also your conscience.
2. Parent places stolen item in child's backpack.
3. Child is caught.
4. Democrat argues that child has the right to keep stolen item since it was the parent who was at fault.
5. Both walk free,....child keeps item.
The is what Democrats envision as equal justice in America today.