This is shaping up to be a big week.
Yesterday, in a much publicized event, the President traveled to El Paso to reaffirm his commitment to immigration reform, after weeks of meetings with people on the issue. He also reasserted his support for the DREAM Act.
This is timely because today, Senator Durbin is holding a press conference to reintroduce the DREAM Act with Senators Reid (D-NV) and Menendez (D-NJ). The news was making its rounds on twitter last night. You can watch the press conference, which starts sharply at 10:15 AM est, live on Senator Durbin’s website.
The DREAM Act is legislation that would provide lawful permanent residency to undocumented youth who attend college or serve in the U.S. military for two years. When the DREAM Act was up for a vote late last year, it failed to attain the 60 votes to end a Republican filibuster and pass the DREAM Act in the U.S. Senate. Even though the legislation won a majority of votes in the Senate and a majority of votes in the House, members of the Republican minority were able to use a procedural move in order to block DREAM from becoming law. And a handful of Democrats joined them.
Let’s hope this time around, some of these politicians will have seen the error of their ways and will vote to give undocumented youth a chance at contributing to the country that they know as home. For more information, you can check out our DREAM Act Central page for a compilation of resources related to the legislation, or check out the Let Us Serve website for stories of talented undocumented youth.
