tags: , , , Blog

‘Qué Pasa’ in Immigration: DREAM Act Loses Battle, But Not the War; Obama "Disappointed” By Vote

Share This:

The Spanish-language press devotes much of its coverage today to the setback suffered yesterday for the DREAM Act after the Senate was unable to pass a motion to debate the Defense appropriations bill to which Democrats planned to add the DREAM Act as an amendment.

DREAM Act loses battle. The motion required 60 votes to pass and the final vote was 56-43.

El Diario-La Prensa (New York) publishes an editorial titled “Dream killers,” criticizing the argument Republicans used to justify voting against a motion to proceed on the defense bill, and to oppose the inclusion of the DREAM Act in the bill:

“The flimsy argument by Republicans is that the amendments were not related to defense. Amendments that allow for troops to be replenished and that move our armed forces into the 21st century obviously are.

But this only the latest Republican cop out. Each time legislative sponsors have tried to move the Dream forward, most Republicans have bucked. And in doing so, they continue to not only let down desperate but determined young people but also a nation that could use their talent.”

Press reports focused on the vote; the disappointment suffered by DREAM Act-eligible youth, and their promises that  the fight will continue; and questions over what  the next step will be to pass the DREAM Act in particular and immigration reform as a whole.

BBC Mundo; EFE; El Nuevo Herald (Miami), whose article is headlined “Immigrant defenders suffer another crushing defeat”; El Diario-La Prensa (New York); and La Opinión (Los Angeles), among others, have more on the story. National television channels Univisión and Telemundo also broadcast segments in their newscasts about the DREAM Act developments. AOL Latino publishes a report by Maribel Hastings of America’s Voice.

AOL Latino interviews Univisión anchor Jorge Ramos, who, in reference to the blocking of the DREAM Act, said that with the vote “Republicans only reaffirmed their anti-Latino position.”

Obama is “disappointed” by the vote blocking the DREAM Act. In a Telemundo interview, President Barack Obama blamed Republicans for blocking the DREAM Act in the Senate:

“I’m disappointed…an overwhelming majority of Democrats said, ‘Let’s move forward and at least have a good debate on this!’, and didn’t get a single Republican who was willing to let this piece of legislation on the floor.”

These students “want to contribute, and some of them want to serve in our military,” but “now it appears that we’re not going to get this done before the election,” he added.