The DREAM Act has just passed the House, 216 to 198.
UPDATE: House members primarily voted with their party, although eight Republicans voted for the DREAM Act, and 38 Democrats against.*
The Senate is scheduled to have a cloture vote on it tomorrow. It appears unlikely that the legislation will be able to pass. While both parties have one announced defection (Nebraska Democrat Ben Nelson has announced he will not support it, while primary-ousted Utah Republican Bob Bennet has said he will vote for it), the Democrats face the prospect of losing another seven senators who voted against the bill in 2007. That would bring them down to 50 votes and one GOP vote — and it looks like the other 41 GOP senators plan to honor their pledge to not pass any other legislation until the Bush tax cuts are extended.
UPDATE II: Of the eight Republicans, only two (Reps. Ileana Ros-Lehtinen and Mario Diaz-Balart, both of Florida) will be in Congress next session. Reps. Joseph Cao of Louisiana and Charles Djou of Hawaii were defeated in the general election, while Reps. Vern Ehlers of Michigan, Lincoln Diaz-Balart of Florida, and Mike Castle of Delaware will retire after this session. Rep. Bob Inglis of South Carolina lost in the primary to federal prosecutor Trey Gowdy, who went on to win the general election.
(*Correction: I originally wrote 29 Democrats.)
Almost every so-called "moderate" Democrat defeated in November, along with many who barely survived but think their constiuents will forget, voted for it.
Reply to this commentLinkReport AbuseWho are the eight Republicans? They need primary challenges.
Reply to this commentLinkReport AbuseThe fact that those who no longer have any elections to worry about are voting yes on the merits should give all opposed to the DREAM Act some pause.
Reply to this commentLinkReport AbuseLame Duck? Lame Brain!
Reply to this commentLinkReport AbuseBut we are all so upset because those dang tea partiers voted for Christine O'Donnell instead of that stalwart conservative Mike Castle.
Reply to this commentLinkReport AbuseI was no fan of O'Donnell, but Castle's vote makes me feel a bit better about losing DE.
Reply to this commentLinkReport Abusethis is why the Repeal Amendment should be passed. or an amendment restricting congress from meeting 45 days on either side of an election.
Reply to this commentLinkReport AbuseEvery cop series has an episode where some really bad guy is set free because in the chain of events leading to his conviction an error was made. A cop sees some contraband but because he had no probable cause the big drug dealer or bomb maker goes free. Liberals hail this as a great victory for the American way of justice. Everything is done right in the prosecution but if you messed up in the beginning then there is no way to save the results. Enter the DREAM act. Liberals now want to say that invaders can be forgiven for how they got here as long as they follow all the rules after that point and go to college paid for by the legal tax payers. Again, the liberals show their hypocrisy.
Reply to this commentLinkReport Abuse"On the merits"? More like "on the misguided hope that they can grant a mass amnesty and buy off the newly legalized (read: newly entitled!) illegals' votes."
It's bread and circuses, as in Rome, only with worse effects for the country and people.
Reply to this commentLinkReport AbuseI suppose that I’ll have to be a conservative voice of dissent about the Dream Act and NR’s position on it. Immigration should be legal, but the children of illegals are not culpable for their parents’ choice to violate our Immigration laws. A child of illegals, who devotes two years of his life fighting for our country, perhaps even putting his life on the line in combat, has shown a tangible commitment to America. Young adults who make the choice to serve in our military seem to be just the sort of people who we want to become American citizens and it’s beyond me how this isn’t a conservative position.
Contrary to the previous comments, I’m also highly skeptical that the Dream Act will be a huge political issue in 2012 (For liberals or conservatives); repeal of ObamaCare, extension of the tax cuts, the massive federal debt, and perhaps North Korea and Iran will eclipse all other issues.
Reply to this commentLinkReport Abuse@televan
Oh? And how many Democrats who are not returning to congress voted no? I don't have the answer, but I suspect that number to be a lot higher than the Republicans that voted yes, and that'd really be saying something, since very few Republican incumbents were beat or are leaving, and the ones that were beat or are leaving were either replaced by much more conservative Republicans, or by liberal Democrats.
Reply to this commentLinkReport AbuseI'm not an immigration expert but what is hindering all these young people from becoming American citizens LEGALLY? If they're currently in college, can't they get a VISA now? I'd support a way to make them legal citizens by going through the procedures in place today then to just give amnesty now.
Reply to this commentLinkReport AbuseI'm not an immigration expert but what is hindering all these young people from becoming American citizens LEGALLY? If they're currently in college, can't they get a VISA now? I'd support a way to make them legal citizens by going through the procedures in place today then to just give amnesty now.
Reply to this commentLinkReport AbusePerhaps a GOP filibuster is in order on grounds that lame duck sessions should not be taking up legislation which the Senate hadn't substantially debated prior to the election. Remember us voters?
Reply to this commentLinkReport AbuseThe tax rate and extended unemployment issues are obvious exceptions in that each had in-built deadlines of Dec 2010.
One more point to Tele, if you could go and look back at when Bush went from the 50-45% approval rating, down to the high 20's, it was when he pushed the immigration debate that his numbers tanked.
People want immigration to occur at a rate in which our society can absorb people, assimilate them, and turn them into Americans FIRST, and whatever subgroup they belong to, no consideration at all. I think that in this day and age, with a president who pleads to people's racial and physical traits (his talks to "African Americans, Latinos, and Women" at the exclusion of everyone else) that it's reasonable to be concerned about the motivation of the people pushing this bill. People shouldn't be considering their skin color when they enter the voting booth. How can they not though, when the president is encouraging them to?
Reply to this commentLinkReport AbuseYes, let's challenge all the Republicans who voted yes and who will still be around. Let's solidify our party as the one that the growing Hispanic community around the country believes is hostile to their people, which is going to happen no matter how many nuanced arguments you make that it's a question of legality vs. illegality. Let's make sure the next GOP candidate for President gets 30% of the Hispanic vote, and gets his/her butt kicked, because there is zero chance the GOP is going to win the White House in 2012 unless it gets about 40% of the Hispanic vote. Let's use immigration to drive us off a cliff right into a permanent Democratic stranglehold on 1600 Pennsylvania Ave. And JRapp...great comment. I agree completely. (And if he were alive, so would Ronald Reagan).
Reply to this commentLinkReport AbuseThis vote confirms my belief that the best thing Republicans in SC-4 did this year was to get rid of Bob Inglis.
Reply to this commentLinkReport Abuse"the children of illegals are not culpable for their parents’ choice to violate our Immigration laws."
"Culpable" has got nothing to do with it. We don't allow the children of bank robbers to benefit from their parents crimes. Even though the children did nothing wrong, we still take away the parents money.
"A child of illegals, who devotes two years of his life fighting for our country, perhaps even putting his life on the line in combat, has shown a tangible commitment to America."
The fact that you feel the need to concoct this ridiculous strawman argument shows the weakness of your actual position.
Reply to this commentLinkReport Abuse"Let's solidify our party as the one that the growing Hispanic community around the country believes is hostile to their people"
Repeat after me, children - Hispanics do not vote based on amnesty.
Hispanics vote for the Democrats because they are poor and the Democrats are the party which gives stuff to the poor.
If Hispanics voted based on amnesty, they would have voted Republican after the Reagan amnesty of 1986. In reality the GOP share of the Hispanic vote dropped after that amnesty.
Reply to this commentLinkReport AbuseWhy would anyone think that just because someone is Hisapnic they support the DREAM act and will vote against whoever votes against it. Hispanics I know are here legally, prefer to give legal citizens preference and know that their taxes will have to go to support illegal people. They do not support DREAM.
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