Passing the DREAM ACT Through the Defense Authorization Bill

It may happen next week!


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The Corner
Thursday September 13, 2007

Immigration Again [Kathryn Jean Lopez]
From Congressional Quarterly:

Democrats Try to Revive Immigration Provisions

By Michael Sandler and Bart Jansen, CQ Staff

Senate Democrats plan to use the defense authorization bill next week to revive a provision from the failed immigration overhaul that would put some children of illegal immigrants on a path to citizenship.

Meanwhile, Sen. Dianne Feinstein, D-Calif., is working to bring to the floor another provision from the immigration bill (S 1639) that would create a guest worker program for up to 1.5 million agricultural workers (S 340).

Both efforts are likely to rekindle the kind of heated debate that engulfed the Senate when the immigration overhaul measure was being considered in June.

Majority Whip Richard J. Durbin, D-Ill., is expected to offer an amendment to the defense bill (HR 1585) that would attach legislation (S 774) to allow children of illegal immigrants who entered the United States before age 16 and lived here at least five years to gain conditional legal status and eventual citizenship if they attend college or join the military for at least two years.

Durbin said Wednesday he is working on the amendment and contacting colleagues to gauge support.

“The Department of Defense has endorsed this, and I think it would be of value,” he said in an interview.

Durbin said Feinstein is searching for the right vehicle. One possibility could be the upcoming five-year farm bill, which is expected to reach the Senate floor next month.

Injecting immigration into the defense debate could be a risky move, with Republicans likely to accuse Democrats of tying up legislation needed to help U.S. troops.

Moreover, even supporters of more lenient treatment of illegal immigrants have expressed doubts that any such measure could pass after the crushing blow it suffered June 28, when proponents failed to get even a majority of votes to end debate on the comprehensive bill.

Durbin said he’s aware of such reservations, but he suggested that waiting until next year, when election-year politics will be in full bloom, would make it even more difficult to act.

He noted that senators from both parties had approached him immediately after the broader bill fell and encouraged him to move forward with the education legislation, known as the DREAM Act.

“I think there is room here for senators who opposed the comprehensive bill to still support the DREAM Act,” Durbin said.

Among those working with him to advance the measure will be Edward M. Kennedy, D-Mass., sponsor of the broader immigration bill. An aide to Kennedy said Durbin’s amendment is relevant to the defense bill because it would offer an incentive for children seeking legal status to join the military.

“There will be a strong effort to get this done this year,” the aide said.

Opponents at the Ready

Frank Sharry, executive director for the National Immigration Forum, which lobbied for the broad bill earlier this year, said that having an alternative strategy for passing highly contentious legislation is a necessity in such an evenly divided Congress.

“Most legislation does get done as riders on appropriations or authorization bills,” Sharry said. “That’s how it happens. This is really the way business gets done.”

The tactic of picking out potentially popular provisions of the immigration bill has already yielded some success.

The Senate in July voted, 89-1, to attach a provision to the Homeland Security spending bill (HR 2638) that provided $3 billion in emergency spending for border security.

But the Democratic proposals are not likely to enjoy that kind of support.

Indeed, one of the harshest critics of the comprehensive legislation called a news conference Wednesday to voice his objections to the plans to breathe new life into it.

Sen. Jeff Sessions, R-Ala., said the proposals could put more than 4 million illegal immigrants on a path to citizenship. That is about one-third of the estimated 12 million illegal immigrants who would have benefited from the comprehensive immigration overhaul bill he helped kill earlier this year, Sessions said.

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