OBAMA ENDORSES TACTICS TO PASS DREAM ACT, By Mickey McCarter

OBAMA ENDORSES TACTICS TO PASS DREAM ACT
by Mickey McCarter
Friday, 17 September 2010

Hispanic Caucus vows prompt moves on immigration reform
With little time left in the legislative session this year, President Barack Obama has publicly embraced efforts to pass a bill that would grant US residency to some young illegal immigrants who complete college or serve in the military.

Obama met with key members of the Congressional Hispanic Caucus Thursday to assure his support for the Development, Relief and Education for Alien Minors (DREAM) Act (S. 729), which has received a renewed push for passage this week with a plan by Sen. Harry Reid (D-Nev.) to attach it to the fiscal 2011 Defense authorization bill (S. 3454). Reid, the Senate majority leader, has scheduled an initial vote on the bill for Sept. 21.

Obama meanwhile Thursday met with Sen. Robert Menendez (D-NJ) and Reps. Nydia Velazquez (D-NY) and Luis Gutierrez (D-Ill.) to discuss comprehensive immigration reform and the DREAM Act.

The President told the lawmakers that he would support Reid's moves to pass the DREAM Act, sponsored by Richard Durbin (D-Ill.). According to a White House press statement, Obama does not believe young people in the United States illegally should be held responsible for the actions of their parents, who brought them to the United States. As such, he endorses a path to legal residency for those individuals if they complete a college degree or serve honorably in the US military.

The DREAM Act could possibly pass the Senate on its own merits. It has a total of 40 co-sponsors, including 36 Democrats, two Republicans, and two independents. Republicans have declared, however, that not one of them would support a comprehensive immigration reform bill this year, which blocks passage for such a bill in the near term.

A House version of the DREAM Act (HR 1751) has 123 Democrats and five Republicans as co-sponsors.

Gutierrez, who has introduced a comprehensive immigration reform bill in the House (HR 4321), applauded the activity around the DREAM Act in a statement Thursday.

"I think the White House, the Democrats, and the allies that support serious immigration reform are going on offense and the President is our quarterback," Gutierrez said. "I have been pushing hard to get us all pointing in the same direction on this issue and now with the White House standing with us and the Senate poised to act, I think we are seeing that effort begin to bear fruit. There are at least 218 votes in the House to pass the DREAM Act. The House is ready to act. We call on the Senate to pass the bill."

Hispanic caucus

The Congressional Hispanic Caucus has moved ahead more aggressively than Obama in pushing for immigration reform. Wednesday, leaders of the caucus announced that they support an up-or-down vote on the DREAM Act, such as the action Reid has taken to attach it to the Defense spending bill.

But the caucus went further, announcing it would support a comprehensive immigration reform bill to be introduced by Menendez in the Senate by October. The White House had been working closely with Sen. Chuck Schumer (D-NY) to craft a bipartisan comprehensive immigration reform bill, picking up the early support of Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-SC). Graham slowed his support as the year progressed and Schumer never introduced his bill.

Menendez, however, promised to charge forward with a Senate bill and Obama said he would support a bill that followed the basic framework outlined by Schumer and Graham. Menendez first announced his intent to introduce a bill Wednesday, saying it would include Republican ideas to attract bipartisan support.

The Congressional Hispanic Caucus also officially threw its support behind Gutierrez's immigration reform bill, known as the Comprehensive Immigration Reform for America's Security and Prosperity (CIR ASAP) Act. The bill has more than 100 co-sponsors in the House now, but Gutierrez jumped the White House timetable for a bill by introducing it last December.

Gutierrez's bill lacks a proposal for a guest worker program, which many lawmakers would tie to a path to legalization, however.

Caucus leaders also asked Obama to stop aggressive deportation of non-criminal illegal aliens, arguing they posed no threat to the United States. The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) has been focusing on the deportation of criminal aliens but has been amassing record numbers for arrests and deportations recently.

DREAM opposition

Reid first announced his plan to attach the DREAM Act to the Defense spending bill Tuesday.

The move was met with skepticism by top Republicans--including Sens. John McCain and Jon Kyl (R-Ariz.)--as the DREAM Act is not considered germane, or relevant, to the military spending measure.

The nonprofit Federation for American Immigration Reform (FAIR), which opposes comprehensive immigration reform and the DREAM Act, blasted Reid's plans in a statement Wednesday.

"At a time when our country is at war and our troops are fighting and dying in Afghanistan, the use of a bill to authorize funding for our military to benefit illegal aliens exemplifies why the American public has grown contemptuous of the way today's Washington operates," FAIR President Dan Stein said in a statement.

FAIR argued that versions of the DREAM Act have been introduced in Congress since 2000 and the act has consistently failed to draw enough support to pass on its own merits. FAIR cast the attempt to pass the DREAM Act now as an election-year ploy to gain Democratic support from Hispanic voters.

Furthermore, as the DREAM Act could benefit illegal aliens up to the age of 35, it is not only awarding children but also adults for breaking the law, according to FAIR.

"Approval of the DREAM Act would send a clear message to parents that violating US immigration laws will result in eventual citizenship and access to expensive taxpayer financed benefits for their kids. Why wouldn't millions more people decide to break our laws?" Stein questioned.