The DREAM Deferred

Now What?

I can’t imagine things are looking too good for the Dream Act in the Senate this week. With time closing in on the lame-duck session, it is hard to see how Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid is going to get 60 votes to move the measure through likely procedural hell. Last week Reid abandoned all efforts to push forward on the Senate version of the bill, which was different from the one passed in the House of Representatives. He is still saying he will introduce a Senate bill identical to the House version, which if passed would not have to be reconciled by the two bodies and would got straight to the President for signature.

If this does not get done in the coming week, we can assume the Dream will remain dead for a long, long time. The House of Representatives would have to pass the bill again in the upcoming session, which seems unlikely given the make-up of the newly elected body. Can’t quite imagine Speaker-of- the-House-to-be John Boehner pushing on this one.

So, what messages will we be sending those young folks who would be the direct beneficiaries under the terms of the legislation? First, a lesson in how-a-bill-becomes-a-law:

-- Yes, it’s true. All good legislation goes to the Senate to die.

-- Filibuster reform, please. Now.

Unfortunately, what we will really be telling the entire world is that America is ready, willing and able to systemically ensure an entire class of people living within its borders is cut off from all possibility of ever contributing positively to society – including the honor of serving the only country many of these young people have ever called home.

Let’s face it folks. The children of undocumented immigrants who came to this country as youngsters are not going anywhere. They have NO WHERE to go. And they are not going underground. THEY CAN’T. If they play by the rules they can either remain here as productive members of society, or they will remain here as a disenfranchised group, with nothing to do and nowhere to go. And angry. Visibly angry. Possibly very visibly angry. Social unrest angry.

Does America really want to go the way of other countries, systemically unable to integrate entire groups of newcomers into their societies? A costly proposition.