Despite Senate Defeat, DREAM Act Not Dead

An event in support of the Dream Act in Los Angeles - Photo: Korean Resource Center/Flickr

An event in support of the Dream Act in Los Angeles. (Photo: Korean Resource Center/Flickr)

After Tuesday’s Republican filibuster of a defense bill to which the the DREAM Act was attached as an amendment, the measure has been procedurally added to the legislative calendar as a stand-alone bill:

S.3827 – A bill to amend the Illegal Immigration Reform and Immigrant Responsibility Act of 1996 to permit States to determine State residency for higher education purposes and to authorize the cancellation of removal and adjustment of status of certain alien students who are long-term United States residents and who entered the United States as children, and for other purposes.

The bill, which would provide a path to citizenship for young undocumented immigrants through attending two years of college or serving in the U.S. military, is sponsored by long-time champion Dick Durbin (D-IL) and co-sponsored by Sen. Patrick Leahy (D-VT) and Sen. Richard Lugar (R-IN).

When conservative blogger Michelle Malkin heard she wrote “DREAM Act Won’t Die.”

That’s sounds about right. “We’re not giving up,” Sen. Durbin told supporters at an event organized by Campus Progress. “This is not the end of the fight, it’s just the beginning.”

Look to see the DREAM Act in the lame-duck session or in 2011.

AboutSarah Kate Kramer
Sarah Kate Kramer first got hooked on collecting stories as a StoryCorps facilitator, then traveled the world with a microphone for a few years before settling down in her hometown of New York City. From 2010-2012 she was the editor of Feet in 2 Worlds and a freelance reporter for WNYC Radio, where she created “Niche Market,” a weekly segment that profiled specialty stores in New York. Sarah is now a producer at Radio Diaries, a non-profit that produces documentaries for NPR and other public radio outlets.