Tipsheet

It's Back: DREAM Act Reintroduced

Katie Pavlich
Katie Pavlich  |  May 11, 2011 2:01 PM
Senate Democrats have re-introduced the DREAM Act, or the Reform America's Broken Immigration System Act, which if passed will allow children of illegal immigrants, brought here illegally by their parents, to gain amnesty U.S. citizenship if they go to college or join the military. The DREAM Act failed to pass during the lame duck session just before republicans took back the House of Representatives.

Why has Democrat Senate leadership reintroduced the bill?


"We're not giving up," said Sen. Richard J. Durbin of Illinois, the No. 2 Democrat in the Senate and the bill's longtime champion. "This is not just a piece of legislation, it is a matter of justice."


Apparently, democrats are giving republicans the courtesy of debate on the issue in order to ease the burden on President Obama to get the job done:


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Some Democratic lawmakers would prefer to avoid the legislative battle and instead press the White House to use its executive authority to advance policies important to the immigrant community.


FLASHBACK: Durbin said in September he would do "everything in his power" to get the DREAM Act passed.