|
Washington, DC, Wednesday, Oct. 24, 2007 | This
afternoon,
a bipartisan 52-44 majority of the Senate voted in favor of
permitting debate on the DREAM Act, S. 2205, legislation that would
provide a path to legal status for young people who were brought to the
U.S. years ago as children. Unfortunately, 60 votes were needed,
so the DREAM Act could not proceed.
We are saddened and enraged that 60 votes could not be
mustered for this bill, which would transform the lives of hundreds of
thousands of deserving young people. But like those young people,
the DREAM Act is not going away.
The vote was closer than it looks. All four
Senators who, each for valid reasons, were unable to make the vote were
DREAM Act supporters. Several others had indicated that they would
vote in favor of the DREAM Act if it looked as if their votes would make
a difference. For the DREAM Act to have come so close is a
remarkable accomplishment, given the level of panic now felt by many
politicians about anything that affects immigrants
On the other hand, the DREAM Act suffered a major blow,
perhaps the decisive one, when the
White House came out in opposition
just minutes before the vote. The reasons given for opposition
were specious and small minded -- a long way from the compassion and
understanding the president once expressed for the plight of immigrants
who have left their homelands, often with their children in tow, and
made the sometimes dangerous journey to the U.S. in search of a better
life here. He now appears to have abandoned any sympathy for those
children.
Although it is now more of a long shot,
there is still a chance that the DREAM Act could be resurrected and
enacted this year. It continues to enjoy bipartisan support,
including that of a majority of the Senate and of some of the most
powerful members of Congress. For the sake of tens of thousands of
young people whose activism and powerful life stories have carried the
DREAM Act so far, and for the sake of the nation, we will not give up.
|
