Dream Act Passed the House Last Night
Breaking News: The DREAM Act Passed the House last night – Senate to Vote TODAY at 11ET!
Last night DREAM triumphed over partisanship and won the votes of 8 House Republicans and many conservative Democrats. To make DREAM possible, the Senate leadership made the unprecedented move of delaying their voting until today
The Development, Relief and Education for Alien Minors Act (DREAM Act) is proposed legislation that would give legal status to young people who graduate from high school in the United States and pursue college or military service. It was first introduced to the United States Senate in August 2001, but it has yet to be passed by Congress. If the bill were to be passed it would allow for certain previously inadmissible and deportable alien students who have graduate from high school in the United States, who arrived in the United States before the age of 16, who are of good moral character, and who have remained in the United States continuously for at least 5 years prior to the bill’s enactment, the opportunity to earn conditional permanent residency. The students would have to complete either two years in the military or at least two years at a four year institution of higher learning. The bill would provide alien students with temporary residency for a period of 6 years. Once the 6 year period was over, an immigrant who has met the requirements becomes eligible for legal permanent resident status, which would allow them to eventually become United States Citizens. If the immigrant fails to meet the requirements within the 6 year period, their temporary status is revoked and they become removable.
In September 2010, Senate Republicans were able to block the Defense Authorization Act, which carried the DREAM Act as an amendment. Advocates of the bill believe that bringing the DREAM Act to a vote during lame duck, while Democrats are still the majority in the House and Senate, would provide the best opportunity of having the bill become law.