ImmigrationSenate holds first DREAM Act hearing
On Tuesday the Senate held its first hearings on the DREAM Act, a bill first introduced in August 2001 to give children of illegal immigrants a path to U.S. citizenship if they attend college or serve in the U.S. military; the bill is not likely to pass as the Republicans control the House, but Democrats plan to continue pushing for the bill
On Tuesday the Senate held its first hearings on the DREAM Act, a bill first introduced in August 2001 togive children of illegal immigrants a path to U.S. citizenship if they attend college or serve in the U.S. military.
Testifying in support of the bill, Education Secretary Arne Duncan said that the United States would be short three million college graduates by 2018 and that lawmakers must grant citizenship to these students to fill the gap.
“We need entrepreneurs, innovators who will create jobs,” he said.
Duncan cited a Congressional Budget Office study which found that that naturalized citizens could generate as much as $1.4 billion for the federal government over the next ten years in addition to providing workers in the science, technology, mathematics, and engineering fields.
DHS Secretary Janet Napolitano was also present at the hearing and argued that the Obama administration sought to provide a path to citizenship for young illegal immigrants who do not have a criminal history and want to contribute to the United States.
“Only young people who are poised to contribute to our country and have met strict requirements regarding moral character and criminal history would be eligible. These individuals do not pose a risk to public safety. They do not pose a risk to national security,” she said.
The bill was defeated last December in the Senate’s lame-duck session and many Republicans remain opposed to it.
“This bill, sadly, does nothing to fix our broken immigration system,” said Senator John Cornyn (R-Texas). “It may be worse that we’re providing incentive for future illegal immigration. This bill does nothing for border security, workplace enforcement, visa overstays, which account for about 40 percent of illegal immigration in this country. In other words it does nothing to reduce the likelihood of future illegal immigration.”
Republicans say the bill does not do enough to plug loopholes that can be used to cheat the government and have called the plan amnesty.
The bill is not likely to pass as the Republicans control the House, but Democrats plan to continue pushing for the bill.
Senator Cornyn called the Democrats’ push “a cynical effort to use the hopes and dreams of these young people as a political wedge in the run-up to the 2012 election.”
