There has been not much Dream Act news since the House of Representatives passed it on to the Senate in December of 2010. It has always been known that the Senate is an uphill battle as far as the passing of this legislation is concerned and last May 11, 2011, Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid reintroduced the DREAM Act in the Senate. But this time, even some Republicans who had been for the bill before did not vote for it because they want balancing measures to be adapted as far as immigration enforcement is concerned. So once again Dream Act 2010 hit a dead end.
What is it
The Dream Act (an acronym for Development, Relief and Education for Alien Minors) has been in the works in one form or another since August 2001. It has gone through several versions but in dream act news the basic tenet of the law is to allow illegal-immigrant students to remain in the United States as permanent residents and be granted citizenship eventually. But the ones who oppose it believe that it is nothing but a broad amnesty for people who broke the law by entering the United States illegally.
Essentially, what the Dream Act 2010 wants to do is to legalize conditionally for 5 years minors who are illegal aliens, having entered the United States when they were below 16 years old and having been residents of the country for 5 straight years. In dream act news, additional conditions are that the minor must have graduated from a U.S. high school or have a GED, and have completed at least two years of higher education or military service. After the 5 year conditional status, the applicant may apply for permanent legal status for as long as he or she has fulfilled all the requirements and remained a person of good moral standing.
Status
Latest anti – dream act news is that the Republicans continue to argue that passing this into law would merely benefit lawbreakers and would put the interests of these illegal aliens over the welfare of legitimate American citizens and taxpayers. It is claimed that jobs will be taken away by these illegal aliens from those with legal right over them. But the proponents of the dream act insist that minors should not be penalized for their parents’ sins. That because they are minors they had no hand in the decision to enter the country the way they did, but have been brought up Americans and educated as such. Positive dream act news is awaited by these prospective beneficiaries.
Every year, 3 million students graduate from American high schools and about 65,000 of these students are tainted by the label “illegal immigrant”. Most of these minors have known no other country except the United States and have lived nowhere else. These minors just want to be recognized, and accepted, as Americans. But in dream act news for the Dream Act 2010 to pass in the Senate the GOP filibuster requires 60 votes and it has been shot down before and the road to its passing is fraught with pitfalls.



