DREAM Act stalled in Senate

Just a day after narrow passage in the U.S. House, legislation that would provide undocumented youth with a path to citizenship was delayed in the Senate on Thursday.

With an eye on netting several more Republican votes by inking a tax compromise, Democratic leaders moved to table the Senate version of the DREAM (Development, Relief and Education for Alien Minors) Act, and bring the House version for a vote next week.

First proposed by Illinois Sen. Dick Durbin and Utah Republican Sen. Orrin Hatch in 2001, the DREAM Act would give qualifying undocumented youths a six-year-long conditional path to citizenship that requires completion of a college degree or two years of military service.

The legislation stipulates that immigrant youths taking part in the program must have entered the country before their 16th birthday, and have resided in the U.S. for five years before enactment of the law. Those who have committed felonies, voter fraud or marriage fraud would be disqualified.

The legislation passed the House by a 216-198 vote late Wednesday.

Lawmakers split largely along party lines, with suburban Democrats Melissa Bean, Bill Foster, Debbie Halvorson and Jan Schakowsky voting for the legislation, and Republicans Judy Biggert, Peter Roskam and Don Manzullo voting against it.

The vote, supporters say, is an important step toward a bipartisan solution to the country's immigration system, which both Democrats and Republicans say needs major reform.

In a joint statement, Durbin and Democratic Senate Leader Harry Reid noted Thursday that the Senate vote will not be merely symbolic. “We owe it to the young men and women whose lives will be affected by this bill, and to the country which needs their service in the military and their skills in building our economy, to honestly address this issue,” they said.

The Congressional Budget Office recently estimated that the boost a crop of better-educated young people would bring to the economy would ultimately outweigh the costs of college tuition for program participants.

Opponents charge the DREAM Act puts the needs of illegal immigrants before American citizens, and suggest that the federal government would have little ability to stop application fraud.

Part of the DREAM Act delay is due to deal-making on a different issue _ the extension of Bush-era tax cuts.

President Obama earlier this week announced he'd reached a compromise with Republicans on extending the tax cuts for all Americans for a two-year period, exempting the first $5 million of a deceased person's estate, and taxing the rest at 35 percent. Democrats want the tax cuts extended for the middle class only, as well as a higher estate tax; Republicans want them extended for all, coupled with a lower estate tax.

Senate Republicans, as a group, have pledged to take no action on anything until a tax deal is made.

Cathy Salgado, communications director for the Illinois Coalition for Immigrant and Refugee Rights, said the delay gives the group “the opportunity to gather more support.”

One important component of that mission is attempting to persuade new Republican Sen. Mark Kirk to vote in favor of the DREAM Act. Kirk has said this is “not the time” to take up the legislation, noting that the country's borders should be secured first.

Kirk issued a statement Thursday noting the Senate's top priority should be “to prevent a large tax increase from hitting families and small business employers on Jan. 1.”

Kirk said he supports the president's tax proposal and will vote “to ensure the bipartisan tax bill takes precedence before considering noneconomic legislation.”