Specials DIVERSITY EMPLOYERS MAGAZINE Spring 2011 - Anniversary Commemorative Issue Hispanic American Village Jobs Center Featured bilingual and other opportunities for all levels   Alliances Meet more IMDiversity Employment Opportunity Network allies

Ice on Immigration: What now for the DREAM Act?

By L. Patricia Ice, Featured Columnist

Question: I was disappointed when the DREAM act was defeated in the US Senate recently.  What are the chances that it will pass in 2011? 

Answer:  The Development, Relief and Education for Alien Minors Act, also known as the DREAM Act, would have provided qualified undocumented youth the opportunity to earn lawful permanent resident status if they successfully completed certain educational or military requirements and stayed out of legal trouble.  The DREAM Act would have helped young people who were brought to this country by their parents at an age when they had no say in the decision.  Since the DREAM Act failed in Congress in 2010, it will have to be re-introduced in the new Congress beginning in 2011 and go through the legislative process.  President Obama has vowed to try to revive the Act and to help get it passed in the House of Representatives and the Senate, so that he can sign it into law.  

The chances of the DREAM Act passing and becoming law in 2011 are uncertain, especially since the Democratic party lost several members of Congress in the November 2010 elections.  While not all Democrats supported the DREAM Act, most who voted in favor of the measure were Democrats.  Of interest to readers in Mississippi, where I am based, is the fact that both U.S. Senators from the state, who are Republicans, voted against the DREAM Act and so did all of the state’s Representatives except for Bennie Thompson, a Democrat.