ShareThisWASHINGTON - Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid has announced plans to have the Senate tackle a measure that would let illegal immigrants who came into the United States as children become citizens -- bucking a long-held tenet of Democratic strategy that immigration reforms should be dealt with as a comprehensive package.
The legislation, known as the DREAM Act, would allow undocumented people enrolled in college or enlisted in the military, and younger than 35, to obtain a green card and ultimately citizenship -- provided they came to the U.S. before age 16, have lived here for more than five years, and have no criminal record.
In a race for re-election that by all accounts is neck-and-neck, Reid needs votes wherever he can get them -- and an 11th-hour victory for the DREAM Act could potentially mobilize otherwise dormant support in the Hispanic community, advocates say.
After kicking around Congress for about 10 years, the DREAM Act is one of the best-known and widely supported provisions in the canon of immigration reform laws.
But in pushing it forward for a vote without the other pieces of the package, Reid may be gambling with the broader cause -- and President Barack Obama's campaign promise -- to pass comprehensive immigration reform, and with his own political future.
Although DREAM has received bipartisan support in the past, previous attempts to pass it as an independent measure have faced opposition from both parties: Republicans who as a party do not support the legislation, and Democrats who argue that addressing the legislation on its own saps energy from the effort to pass a more comprehensive immigration bill.
Reid seemed to address those concerns as he made his announcement Tuesday, explaining that it would be impossible to take up comprehensive immigration reform this year.
"I tried so very, very hard, but those Republicans we had in the last legislature have left us," he said.
And with Democrats all but certain to cede more seats to Republicans during the midterm elections -- including to many who have professed allegiance to the "no amnesty" stance that has received support from, among others, the Tea Party movement -- many are wondering if no comprehensive immigration reform now really means none at all for the rest of Obama's first term.
Opponents of liberalizing the nation's immigration laws say a comprehensive immigration reform package will become even easier to vote down if the DREAM Act is passed separately.
"These are the most compelling people and arguments for amnesty," said Roy Beck, executive director of NumbersUSA, which opposes the DREAM Act. "Once you take them out, whatever momentum you've got, you lose."
Reid's legislative strategy isn't an entirely new one. This summer, some influential immigration advocates began to shift toward resigned acceptance of a more piecemeal approach to immigration reform, such as the DREAM Act and another bill, which would increase the number of temporary work visas available for agricultural workers.
"I think the DREAM Act is perceived among the immigration advocacy community as a building block toward the broader goal of comprehensive reform," said Olga Medina, an immigration policy strategist with the National Council of La Raza, a pro-immigrant advocacy group. "A victory would build momentum (for comprehensive immigration reform)."
But whatever the ultimate effect passing the DREAM Act would have on comprehensive reform, advocates and opponents agree that in the immediate term, the person who stands to gain the most from its passage is the senator himself.
Both Reid and GOP challenger Sharron Angle have been jockeying for the support of the Hispanic population, which makes up 26 percent of Nevada's population and 15 percent of the state's electorate.
But Reid and Republican challenger Sharron Angle differ widely on the subject of immigration, with Reid supporting the concept of a comprehensive bill that combines enforcement provisions with pathways to citizenship for the undocumented, and Angle likening measures that provide avenues to citizenship for illegal immigrants -- including the DREAM Act -- to amnesty.
But before the issue can stir Hispanics in Nevada, Reid has to come up with the votes in the Senate -- and the majority leader refused to say whether he thought he could do so.
Reid said he would attach the DREAM Act as an amendment to a military spending measure the Senate is expected to take up next week. That bill is already being used as a vehicle for another controversial piece of legislation - the repeal of the military's "Don't Ask, Don't Tell" policy, which the Obama administration has advocated, but Republicans oppose as a party.
Reid said he had not coordinated his plans to include the DREAM Act in that package with the White House -- which this week appeared to be carefully avoiding taking any position on strategy.
Asked this week if she supported the Senate considering the DREAM Act apart from broader reform, Secretary of Homeland Security Janet Napolitano carefully told an assembly at the annual conference of the Congressional Hispanic Caucus Institute that she and the president "support the DREAM Act ... and he supports comprehensive immigration reform."
(Distributed by Scripps Howard News Service, www.scrippsnews.com.)
Must credit Salt Lake Tribune
Senator Harry Reid--OUT IN NOVEMBER.
Scrutinize the growing list of Democrats falling along the wayside, as more and more Tea Party candidates take their place. This is a non-violent revolution that displays the people have the--REAL--power. Not the Republican elites, not the Liberal progressives, but just the average voter. But it’s not over, until it’s--OVER? We must take back our government, the trite fellowship of politicians who have sought to undermine the values of our constitution. The issues are many that needs a new direction, beginning with today’s push by leading Democrat Senator Harry Reid of Nevada, who is trying to influence the a major minority vote in attaching a bill, to the War appropriation bill. This is a sad state of affairs when Reid, Menendez of New Jersey, Rep. Luis Gutierrez (D-Ill.), Rep. Nydia Velazquez (D-N.Y.), Speaker Pelosi, Sen. Barbara Boxer, Feinstein have the unrivaled audacity to promote the illegal immigration ticket, when our kids cannot get into college, because of the sky-high costs.
Its a incredulous situation when the politicians we select, sue the State of Arizona, Governor Brewer, State Senator Pierce or even the Maricopa Sheriff Joe Arpaio and any other lawmaker who tries to protect the populace from the illegal alien invasion. Even small communities such as Hazleton, PA, Farmers Branch, TX, Fremont, Nebraska isn't safe from the arrogant Czars in Obama's administration--but are releasing illegal aliens back on the streets. Never mind these public servants push new laws, so they can sweat us of more taxes. In just federal payout in education, health care and imprisonment, the expenditures are annually $113 billion. This does not cover state, county and city taxes, to support illegal aliens or $60 billion that is whisked overseas according to FAIR.
But not only that, to push this attachment bill, otherwise our troops don't get the necessary financial backing. This is really a sick manifestation on behalf of the Democrats-to get votes. This bill gives life to the "Dream Act." Don’t let Reid use your good nature to force along this measure, which will further cripple our economy. The Pentagon bill has been ruthless publicized relating to the quote, "Don't ask? Don't tell?" It Emphasis the Lady Gaga saga with Harry Reid about gays in the military, but expanding the ranks of warriors cost nothing--they earn their keep in blood and loyalty. But the truth is Reid nearly obliterated E-Verify, a business computer program that identifies illegal workers. Sen. Menendez even ridiculed our immigration system and said he is clearing the way to introduce a path to citizenship in the coming weeks. even though we have 15 million US citizens and permanent residents, drumming the streets for a job.
Reid is a ruthless power monger that has crippled Nevada’s financial status, with the highest unemployment rate. Reid and his retinue have refused to implement any restrictions on millions of illegal aliens squatting there, taking jobs and lowering wages and benefits. He is likely under the thumb of the service and entertainment unions, who are using illegal labor? This illegal alien occupation is destabilizing our country, caused by both parties through many previous years of doing nothing. The propaganda for DREAM ACT is false and deceptive. This amnesty is NOT limited to high school valedictorians or other high-achieving college students, who were brought to the U.S. illegally when they were babies. It is yet another terrible strain on taxes, caused by yet another part of the “Instant citizenship” syndrome that effects public benefits and alienates many of our own impoverished Americans.
This Path to citizenship is not limited to a few College grad’s but an amnesty that includes illegal aliens up to age 35! And the illegal families homesteading arrival can even incorporate children as late as age 15! This bill is a giant fraudulent loophole that nationals can claim an amnesty without providing proof of meeting certain criteria. Even the faction of the DREAM ACT amnesty divulges that around 2.1 million people could be eligible. This amnesty has no restriction procedures at all as it still allows businesses to persist in hiring illegal aliens. Further—it temps millions more parents to fetch their children here illegally and stay long enough for them to become high school students and demand another amnesty in a few years.
If this bill is passed it leaves intact the “chain migration system” that will permit these 2.1 million illegal aliens, to eventually send for millions more relatives. The ominous DREAM ACT leaves intact the chain migration system that will allow these 2.1 million illegal aliens to ultimately send for millions more relatives. In quick succession, the legitimized illegal aliens would be able to get green cards for their parents. In the future millions of additional relatives would be able to start planning their applications and getting in line. This starts with adult siblings and moves on to aunts, uncles, cousins, etc. A large percentage of the illegal aliens in the U.S. today are extended family members of the illegal aliens who got amnesty in 1986 and also those in the six more-limited amnesties throughout the 1990s.
Vent your anger on the phone lines to Washington and your Senator and Congressman at 202-224-3121. Join millions of other Americans and freely email, fax or you can aid in stopping the corruption in the Capitol. NumbersUSA has all the tools to return this country to THE PEOPLE. Be aware that illegal households may try and vote for Reid in November as our voting system is easily compromised.
sdg seg easg WWETG AW
sdg seg easg WWETG AW
DVBSDBV sdg d sh ser
DVBSDBV sdg d sh ser