Sen. Dick Durbin

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August 2, 2011 | 3:00 PM | By

The 10th anniversary of the Dream Act

Photo by DreamActivist/Flickr (Creative Commons)

Dream Act supporters outside L.A. City Hall, June 2009

Yesterday marked the 10th anniversary of the introduction of the original Dream Act. The first Development, Relief, and Education for Alien Minors Act was introduced August 1, 2001 by Utah Republican Sen. Orrin Hatch, with a bipartisan group of cosponsors.

The bill’s timing could not have been worse. In a little more than a month, the political landscape surrounding immigration would change drastically, obliterating any chance of passage. But after years of reintroductions, amendments and changing sponsors, the proposal to grant conditional legal status to young undocumented people brought here as minors continues to make its way around Congress, making it a noteworthy anniversary.

Here is a summary of the bill, then known as S.1291, as it was introduced:

Development, Relief, and Education for Alien Minors Act or DREAM Act – - Amends the Illegal Immigration Reform and Immigrant Responsibility Act of 1996 to repeal the provision prohibiting an unlawful alien’s eligibility for higher education benefits based on State residence unless a U.S. national is similarly eligible without regard to such State residence.

Amends the Immigration and Nationality Act to direct the Attorney General to cancel the removal of, and adjust to conditional permanent resident status, certain (inadmissible or deportable) alien higher education students under the age of 21 with qualifying years of U.S. residency.

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FILED UNDER: Politics/Justice, Dream Act, Sen. Dick Durbin, Sen. Orrin Hatch
June 27, 2011 | 4:37 PM | By

2011 version of the Dream Act to get its first Senate hearing

Photo by CSU Stanislaus Photo/Flickr (Creative Commons)

A new and slightly revised version of the federal Dream Act will get its first Senate hearing tomorrow morning, more than a month after Illinois Democratic Sen. Dick Durbin and other top Senate Democrats announced plans to bring it back.

The new Development, Relief and Education for Alien Minors (DREAM) Act differs only slightly from the one approved by the House last December, which moved to the Senate but failed to draw enough votes for cloture.

Like prior versions, the bill would grant conditional legal status to qualifying young people who are in the United States illegally but were brought here as minors under 16, so long as they attend college or join the military. There are only a few key differences from last year’s version:

  • The age cap for applicants, which was reduced to age 29 last year, has been bumped back up to 35 years of age or younger
  • The length of conditional legal status before applicants may obtain permanent legal resident status has been reduced to six years, as in an earlier version, from 10 years
  • This version would, as did an earlier version (but not the House-approved one), seek to repeal a ban on in-state tuition rates for beneficiaries

To obtain permanent legal status, in addition to maintaining “good moral character” during the conditional period, beneficiaries would need to: a) have acquired a degree from an institute of higher learning, or at least completed two years in good standing toward a bachelor’s or higher degree; b) served at least two years in “uniformed services” and, if discharged, received an honorable discharge. More details can be found in a previous post.

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FILED UNDER: Health/Education, Politics/Justice, Coming out undocumented, Dream Act, Jose Antonio Vargas, Sen. Dick Durbin
June 22, 2011 | 11:00 AM | By

Why a Pulitzer winner is coming out as undocumented

Photo by PoliticalActivityLaw.com/Flickr (Creative Commons)

Award-winning journalist Jose Antonio Vargas, right

Revealing one’s undocumented status as a political act has so far been embraced mostly by college students, young people eager to put a face on those who would benefit from proposed legislation known as the Dream Act. Now, that face has become a little older, a little more familiar.

In a piece published today in the New York Times Magazine, former Washington Post reporter Jose Antonio Vargas reveals the secret that has haunted him throughout his career: He is undocumented.

Vargas, who shared a Pulitzer Prize three years ago for coverage of the Virginia Tech massacre, was brought here illegally by a smuggler from the Philippines when he was 12 years old, at his mother’s behest. He writes:

We’re not always who you think we are. Some pick your strawberries or care for your children. Some are in high school or college. And some, it turns out, write news articles you might read. I grew up here. This is my home. Yet even though I think of myself as an American and consider America my country, my country doesn’t think of me as one of its own.

In a stunning confession, Vargas tells the story of how he managed to navigate through high school and college, and eventually into a coveted internship and a Washington Post staff writer job, with the help of an intimate network of supporters who knew his secret, among them his grandfather, a legal immigrant who initially arranged for his false papers. He recalls how he researched which states would be most apt to grant him a driver’s license, settling on Oregon. He learned early on that revealing his secret typically led to closed doors, so he kept it to himself, sharing it only with a few close confidantes.

He writes that he was inspired to tell his story by the young people who have revealed their status recently as they campaign for the Development, Relief and Education for Alien Minors (DREAM) Act, which would grant conditional legal status to youths brought here before age 16 if they go to college or join the military. When he was younger, Vargas would have qualified.

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FILED UNDER: Health/Education, Politics/Justice, Dream Act, Jose Antonio Vargas, New York Times Magazine, Sen. Dick Durbin, Washington Post
May 12, 2011 | 1:47 PM | By

Digging into the new Dream Act

Photo by Leslie Berestein Rojas/KPCC

A student activist’s t-shirt, March 2011

The latest version of the federal Dream Act that Senate Democrats plan to introduce is, at least for now, fairly similar to the version approved by the House last December.

As have its predecessors, the most recent Development, Relief and Education for Alien Minors (DREAM) Act would grant conditional legal status to qualifying young people who are in the United States illegally but were brought here as minors under 16, provided they attend college or join the military.

The eligibility requirements for applicants, if the bill were to become law, remain much the same, However, there are a few key differences:

  • The age cap for applicants, which was reduced to age 29 last year, has been bumped back up to 35 years of age or younger
  • The length of conditional legal status before applicants may obtain permanent legal resident status has been reduced to six years, as in an earlier version, from 10 years
  • This version would, as did an earlier version (but not the House-approved one), seek to repeal a ban on in-state tuition rates for beneficiaries

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FILED UNDER: Health/Education, Politics/Justice, Dream Act, Sen. Dick Durbin, Sen. Harry Reid
May 11, 2011 | 9:58 AM | By

‘Future doctors, soldiers, journalists:’ The federal Dream Act returns

Photo by Leslie Berestein Rojas/KPCC

A homemade poster in a makeshift call center last year for student Dream Act supporters, December 2010

The Dream Act will soon be reintroduced in the Senate, though no date has been set for when it will brought to the floor. Assistant Senate Majority Leader Dick Durbin of Illinois and other prominent Senate Democrats announced their plans this morning to bring back the long-lived immigration bill, which passed the House last December but failed in the Senate.

The proposed legislation, versions of which have been circulating for a decade, would grant conditional legal status to certain undocumented young people who were brought to this country as minors, so long as they attend college or enlist in the military.

“These young people were brought to the United States as children,” Durbin said. “They grew up in this country…they can be our future doctors, soldiers, journalists, and even United States senators.”

It’s still unclear how this version of the Development, Relief and Education for Alien Minors (DREAM) Act will differ from previous versions. According to Durbin’s office, the basic requirements for eligibility are similar to those in the bill last voted on. Applicants will need to:

  • Have come to the U.S. as children (15 or under)
  • Be long-term U.S. residents (continuous physical presence for at least five years)
  • Have “good moral character”
  • Have graduated from high school or obtained a GED
  • Have completed two years of college or military service in good standing

Late last year, the bill was retooled to tighten several provisions, including a lowered age cutoff for applicants.

Durbin will be the lead sponsor of the bill, as he has been for previous versions. He was joined in the press conference by Sen. Robert Menendez of New Jersey and Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid of Nevada, who touted potential economic and national security benefits. Reid and others stressed the military aspect of the bill, which has been embraced by Department of Defense leaders as a recruiting tool. Even among some supporters, it remains a controversial provision.

A national student movement surged last year before the last Dream Act vote. It has continued to grow as undocumented students and graduates have taken to “coming out” with their immigration status as a political act, something that began as a strategy for putting names and faces to those who would be affected.

This morning’s press conference was broadcast online via live video feed. The reaction on Twitter from young proponents who watched it was upbeat, but tempered with skepticism.

One person tweeted:

reporter asked about how #dreamactivists are feeling…after 10 years of fighting for #dreamact its hard to have #hope

Another replied:

It’s been around for 10 years for a reason. Hope is the last thing we should lose. Justice will be done. #DREAMAct

FILED UNDER: Politics/Justice, Dream Act, Sen. Dick Durbin, Sen. Harry Reid
May 10, 2011 | 10:52 AM | By

The federal Dream Act prepares for a comeback

A student’s bold statement, December 8, 2010. Photo by Leslie Berestein Rojas/KPCC

Details are scarce, but a spokesman for Sen. Dick Durbin (D-Illinois) confirmed this morning that Durbin has plans to reintroduce the proposed immigration legislation at an event in Washington, D.C. tomorrow.

Immigrant rights advocates had been speculating yesterday on the possible re-introduction this week of the federal Development, Relief and Education for Alien Minors (DREAM) Act, which would allow certain undocumented youths to obtain conditional legal status. In its most recent version, which passed the House but failed to clear the Senate last December, conditional legal status would have been granted to young people brought here as minors before age 16 who either went to college or joined the military.

Durbin, a longtime champion of the bill, had promised earlier this year that he would bring it back. There are no details yet on what the reintroduced bill would look like. The bill voted on last December was pared down from earlier versions, with a lowered age threshold for those eligible and other tightened provisions.

President Obama, who is addressing immigration reform today during his visit to El Paso, Texas, has also been a vocal Dream Act supporter. Advocacy groups in Washington, D.C. and Los Angeles had been anticipating for the bill to be reintroduced this week or next.

Late yesterday, the Coalition for Humane Immigrant Rights of Los Angeles issued a press release stating that the federal bill would be reintroduced in the Senate this week with 27 sponsors. The list of sponsors was not available, however, said CHIRLA spokesman Jorge-Mario Cabrera, and questions were being referred to Durbin’s staff.

More details will be available after tomorrow, according to Durbin’s office.

FILED UNDER: Politics/Justice, CHIRLA, Dream Act, Sen. Dick Durbin