DREAM ACT UPDATE

After failing to win comprehensive immigration reform during a period when Democrats controlled both the White House and Congress, immigration proponents had been hoping to snag an 11th-hour consolation prize: the DREAM Act.

Proponents had not pushed for separate consideration of the DREAM Act in recent years because they feared they would lose their most compelling and attractive argument for comprehensive immigration reform, which would benefit the rest of the estimated 11 million people who are in the country illegally and who are likely to be viewed less sympathetically.

‘President Barack Obama thought the DREAM Act would be the “easy” part of his comprehensive immigration reform package because it dealt with students and soldiers, whom some find it difficult to dislike without first meeting them. Obama even bargained for Republican votes by sweetening the deal: He got tough on deportations, raising them to a record 390,000 per year, to show that he was no immigration patsy’.

The DREAM Act was defeated in the Senate on December 18, 2010. To me, any form of immigration reform in the near future looks highly doubtful. The Democrats are no longer in the majority. President Obama has had ongoing problems with the War on Terror, the economy, Healthcare Reform, etc… I see immigration reform as a topic commanding low priority for our Senators, Representatives, and the White House right now.