Round Five for the DREAM Act

In a first step to bring immigration reform back to the front burner, Assistant Senate Majority Leader Dick Rubin (D-IL) and Senator Richard Lugar (R-IN) introduced the Development, Relief, and Education for Alien Minors Act (DREAM Act) in the Senate on March 26. A similar bill called the American Dream Act was submitted in the House of Representatives in a bipartisan effort. Yet, despite domestic debate over immigration in recent years, the controversial initiative has not reached the national spotlight. As an example, during President Barack Obama’s interactive town hall meeting held on March 26, none of the top ten questions voted on by more than 3.5 million people were related to immigration reform.

The DREAM Act offers a two-step legalization process for children described as “1.5ers.” As Washington Post columnist Marcela Sanchez explained in a 2007 article, “One-point-fivers are neither first-generation immigrants, adults who immigrated to the United States; nor are they second-generation, children born here of immigrant parents.” According to the National Immigration Law Center, students who came to the United States before turning 16 at least five years before the bill’s enactment could gain conditional permanent resident status if they have clean criminal records and attain high school graduation or college acceptance. To upgrade from conditional to permanent status, participants must then finish two years of college or serve a minimum of two years in the U.S. military.

How many people would benefit from the measure? Research from 2003 by the Pew Hispanic Center published in a Congressional Research Service report estimated that “each year 65,000 undocumented immigrants graduate high school who have lived in the country for more than five years.” In 2006, the Migration Policy Institute calculated that roughly 360,000 undocumented high school graduates would benefit from the measure that year alone. The Center for Immigration Studies reported in 2007 that 2.1 million could qualify for legal status under the DREAM Act.

The legislation was first introduced in 2001 and rejected four times. But the fifth round may be the charm. As the Orlando Sentinal’s “Hispanosphere” blog points out, “[N]ow Democrats have control of U.S. Congress with a president who has expressed support and voted in favor of this legislation in the last go-round.”

Whether consideration of the DREAM Act represents near-term action on comprehensive immigration reform remains unclear. In a recent visit to Mexico, Secretary of State Hillary Clinton said that immigration reform is “a high priority” for Obama’s administration. “We believe strongly that there have to be changes made, and we hope we will be able to pursue those in the coming months,” she said. In early March, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi told a San Francisco church crowd that “we cannot wait any longer for fair and just immigration reform.” However, during this week’s visit to Costa Rica, Vice President Joe Biden warned Central American leaders that the ailing economy hinders immediate action on U.S. immigration reform.