Photo by Damian Dovarganes, AP.
Despite a last-ditch effort to garner enough votes, the Senate on Saturday morning failed to pass the DREAM Act, which would have created a path to legal status for some undocumented immigrant students who came to this country as children.
“It is disappointing that common sense did not prevail,” a disappointed President Obama said in a statement today. He vowed that his administration would not give up on the DREAM Act nor on fixing the “broken immigration system.”
In the end, the Senate fell five votes short of breaking a Republican filibuster, with a final vote of 55 to 41. Notably five Democrats voted against the bill: Mark Pryor of Arkansas, Jon Tester of Montana, Ben Nelson of Nebraska, Max Baucus of Montana and Kay Hagan of North Carolina. Three Republicans meanwhile broke from their party line and supported the bill: Dick Lugar of Indiana, Lisa Murkowski of Alaska and Robert Bennett of Utah.
Had the bill passed, it would have granted 10 years of conditional status to high school graduates who came to the United States before the age of 16, had lived here for at least five continuous years, graduated from a United States high school or obtained a GED, and demonstrated good moral character. After serving in the military or attending college, these students would become eligible for legal permanent residency, and then ultimately be able to apply for citizenship.
In a KoreAm story posted yesterday, undocumented student David Cho, 22, called the bill “a path toward freedom” for young people like himself.
“You come to this country when you’re 9,” said the UCLA student, “you go through the whole education system, you get into [college] only to find that you’re undocumented. What would you do then?
“We’re asking for a chance to prove to you that we are capable of giving back to this country.”
Cho was unavailable for comment today.
A solemn Senator Dick Durbin, a major champion of the DREAM Act, said this: “Thousands of children in America…live in the shadows and dream of greatness. They stand in the classrooms and pledge allegiance to our flag. They sing our star-spangled banner as our national anthem. They believe in their heart of hearts this is home. This is the only country they have ever known.”
But opponents of the bill maintained that it grants amnesty for lawbreakers and complained that it would drive up the unemployment rate.
While advocates have vowed to continue fighting for the DREAM Act, it’s unlikely the bill will have a chance of being passed for at least two years, as Republicans will regain a House majority in January.
