Sen. Jeff Bingaman Joins in Introducing DREAM Act Bill

Yesterday, Senator Jeff Bingaman joined in introducing legislation that would provide certain undocumented students a route to citizenship through education and/or military service. The bill was introduced by Assistant Senate Majority Leader Dick Durbin (D-IL), Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-NV), Senator Robert Menendez (D-NJ) and 29 other Senators.

The Development, Relief, and Education for Alien Minors (DREAM) Act, would allow children who were brought illegally to the United States, at the age of 15 or younger, the opportunity to legalize their status if they work hard, stay out of trouble, graduate high school and eventually go to college or enlist in the Armed Forces.

“I do not believe children should be punished for their parents’ actions. It doesn’t make sense to deny children who grew up in our country an opportunity to earn a college degree, join the military and to contribute to our economy as productive members of society,” Bingaman said. 

Late last year, after the U.S. House had passed the DREAM Act, the measure failed to get an up or down vote in the Senate due to the defeat of a closure vote. At that time, both Sen. Bingaman and Sen. Tom Udall voted for cloture. In a horrible show of cowardice, five Dems voted against cloture: Max Baucus (D-MT), Mark Pryor (D-AR), Ben Nelson (D-NE), Jon Tester (D-MT) and Kay Hagan (D-NC).

The prior occurred on December 8th, with the bill passing by a margin of 216 to 198. All three of our Congressmen in office at that time -- Reps. Martin Heinrich (NM-01), Harry Teague (NM-02) and Ben Ray Lujan (NM-03) -- voted yes.

The DREAM Act was first introduced in 2001 -- with strong bipartisan support -- and variations of the legislation have been kicking around in Congress ever since. Let's hope that this year, the bill passes with large majorities in both houses of Congress, as it should have long ago.

In order to be eligible for the DREAM Act individuals must have:

• Come to the U.S. as children (15 or under);
• Be long-term U.S. residents (continuous physical presence for at least five years);
• Have good moral character;
• Graduate from high school or obtain a GED;
• Complete two years of college or military service in good standing.

The DREAM Act is supported by labor, business, education, civil rights and religious groups, including the AFL-CIO, the National PTA, the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops, the U.S. Conference of Mayors, the CEOs of Fortune 100 companies like Microsoft and Pfizer, and dozens of colleges and universities.

As reported in an article on jconline.com, 

The national push for the legislation to help the children of illegal immigrants comes on the heels of the arrest Monday in Indianapolis of five illegal immigrant students. They were protesting new state legislation to deny undocumented students lower in-state tuition fees -- a measure that would counter provisions in the DREAM Act.

Unfortunately, the bill lost its only Republican sponsor this time out:

As the politics of the 2012 election heat up, GOP Sen. Richard Lugar declined Wednesday to join Democrats in reintroducing an immigration measure he's championed for years.

Since 2005, Lugar has co-sponsored with Sen. Dick Durbin, D-Ill., a bill to let illegal immigrants who grew up in the United States earn legal status through college or the military.