House Passes DREAM Act, Senate Stalls, Youth Deliver $2.3 Billion Check to Congress

by Alex DiBranco · 2010-12-09 14:03:00 UTC
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Yesterday, young people showed up on Capital Hill with giant-sized checks for lawmakers in the amount of $2.3 billions dollars. No, members of Congress didn't just win the biggest lottery ever. But America could — if lawmakers passed the DREAM Act.

The DREAM Act, which would provide undocumented youth brought to America as children with a pathway to legalization through college attendance or military service, would provide an estimated $2.3 billion in revenue over the next decade and reduce the deficit by some $1.4 billion. And yesterday, thanks to years of dedicated organizing of DREAM Act youth that has escalated into rallies, hunger strikes, and time-honored acts civil disobedience, the bill passed the House yesterday. Unfortunately, the Senate is the really tough nut to crack.

A few votes shy of those needed to bring the DREAM Act to an up-or-down vote, the Senate has tabled their old version and plans to continue looking at the House version later this month. The means more time for political wheeling-and-dealing, for compromises, and for DREAMers to put more pressure on holdouts. But the clock is ticking: if the DREAM Act doesn't pass during the lame duck session, there's slim chance of it passing in a Republican-controlled Senate that's catering to its xenophobic side. Too bad the support of 70% of the American people doesn't translate into even 60% of the Senate votes.

Without the passage of the DREAM Act, the undocumented youth who have demonstrated such ability and dedication through organizing a grassroots movement lack other avenues to continue their lives in America. Though occasionally youth are saved from deportation through a campaign that brings light to the injustice of their individual cause, we lack a system means of recognizing that these young people, brought to the U.S. as babies or children without any responsibility for the choice, deserve some means of adjusting their undocumented status. As they continue their efforts to win over those final, necessary votes, you too can register your support for the DREAM Act.

Photo credit: Dream Activist

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Alex DiBranco is a Change.org Editor who has worked for the Nation, Political Research Associates, and the Center for American Progress. She is now based in New York City.
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