The act would provide 'green cards' to some illegal immigrants brought to the U.S. as children. House sends DREAM Act to Senate

A bill that would provide a path to citizenship for young illegal immigrants cleared the House on Wednesday night but now faces a daunting test in the Senate.

After a two-hour floor debate, the House passed the DREAM Act along mostly partisan lines, 216 to 198, with 38 Democrats voting against the bill and eight Republicans supporting it.


Democrats framed the legislation as a civil rights issue. Republicans denounced it as a “nightmare” amnesty plan that would encourage illegal immigration.

“The DREAM Act itself symbolizes what it means to be an American,” said House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.). “It’s about equality. It’s about opportunity. It’s about the future.”

The bill now heads to the Senate, where Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.) has scheduled a procedural vote for Thursday morning.

But in the waning days of the lame-duck session, Senate Republicans have vowed to filibuster any legislation unrelated to the expiring Bush-era tax cuts and the funding of the government. Even proponents conceded they haven’t secured the 60 votes needed to move the bill forward in the Senate.

However, House Democrats hope that passing the bill in their chamber first will provide some momentum for Senate passage. In discussions Wednesday, House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer (D-Md.) personally urged Reid to postpone the Senate vote until Thursday, said a senior Democratic aide.

“If the bill had gone down in the Senate first, it would have been very hard to get it across the finish line in the House,” the aide said.

Stalled in Congress for the past decade, the DREAM Act would provide “green cards” — and eventually the opportunity for citizenship — to some illegal immigrants who were brought to the country as children — if they attend college or join the military for two years.

To be eligible, beneficiaries must have come to the U.S. before the age of 16, be under the age of 30, lived in the country for five years, pass a criminal background test and have a high school diploma or GED equivalent.

Critics aired a host of complaints about the bill, saying it rewards lawbreakers, allows those who commit some misdemeanor crimes to be eligible, adds to the federal deficit in the long term and creates a new work force that competes with “law-abiding Americans.”

“The DREAM Act is a nightmare for the American people. It insults American workers, American taxpayers and anyone who believes in the rule of law,” said Rep. Lamar Smith (R-Texas), the incoming Judiciary Committee chairman. “The DREAM Act hurts millions of Americans who have lost their jobs, are underemployed or are threatened with layoffs. It puts the interests of illegal immigrants ahead of those of law-abiding Americans.”

Added Sen. Jeff Sessions (R-Ala.), the Senate’s most vocal opponent of the DREAM Act: “Americans want Congress to end the lawlessness, but this bill would have us surrender to it. It’s really a give-up type approach.”

The House vote came amid an enormous push for the DREAM Act by immigrant activists and the Obama administration. The president telephoned lawmakers this week to rally support for the bill.

In a statement, he called the DREAM Act part of a larger debate needed to fix the nation’s broken immigration system.

“The DREAM Act corrects one of the most-egregious flaws of a badly broken immigration system,” Obama said. “A flaw that forces children who have grown up in America, who speak English, who have excelled in our communities as academics, athletes or volunteers to put their lives and talent on hold at a great cost to themselves and our nation.”

In recent days, Cabinet secretaries have made the case that the bill will produce more college graduates, boost the economy and military recruitment and aid law enforcement efforts.

On Capitol Hill on Wednesday, Education Secretary Arne Duncan said 65,000 high school graduates each year cannot go on to college because of their illegal status.

“We need their ingenuity, we need their creativity, we need their entrepreneurship skills, we need them to help lead the country where we need to go educationally,” Duncan said. “To have them stand on the sidelines at a time when we’re being outcompeted by the rest of the world educationally makes absolutely no sense to me.”

This week, supporters held candlelight vigils, rallies and hunger strikes around the country and flooded the Capitol with tens of thousands of phone calls to members of Congress.

For Boston resident Carlos Saavedra, the national coordinator for the United We Dream Network, the DREAM Act hits close to home. After his parents brought him from Peru to the United States at age 12, he was undocumented for 10 years before obtaining legal status. His younger brother, however, still doesn’t have proper immigration papers, which may derail his college aspirations.

“He’s 17, and this past weekend he got maybe 20 letters from colleges and universities, and he brought all of those in my room and said, ‘I hope it happens this Wednesday,’” Saavedra said in an interview outside the Capitol. If the DREAM Act fails this year, “it will be very hard for him to go to college.”