Dream Act fails in Senate

WASHINGTON — A last-ditch Democratic effort to establish a path to citizenship for some children of undocumented immigrants failed in the Senate on Saturday, likely derailing any attempt at sweeping immigration reform in Congress for the foreseeable future.

The bill, known as the Dream Act, had passed the
House, and its advocates and Democratic sponsors hoped that they could
muster enough Republican votes to bring the legislation to the floor.
Instead, it fell victim to a GOP filibuster, one in which a handful of Democrats also blocked the bill. The final tally was 55-41.

Dozens of young activists crowded the galleries above the Senate floor in support of the bill, many wearing college graduation mortarboards. Some held hands as senators cast their votes.

In a statement after the vote, President Barack Obama called the result “incredibly disappointing.”

The act would have allowed those brought to this
country before age 16 to attain legal residency and perhaps eventually
citizenship if they lived here more than five years and attended
college or served in the military. Opponents derided it as a form of
amnesty. Experts said that about 1.2 million immigrants would have
taken advantage of the legislation.

Some form of the legislation, known formally as the Development, Relief and Education for Alien Minors Act, has existed on Capitol Hill
for a decade, but Democratic leaders viewed this vote as a last, best
attempt to pass it before Republicans take control of the House next
month and gain additional seats in the Senate.

The vote brought the curtain down on a two-year
drama in which the Obama administration and Senate Democrats have
assured activists that immigration reform was a top priority, only to
see it never find any real legislative momentum. For proponents, the
road will only grow harder, as public sentiment against illegal
immigration has hardened and fewer Republicans have shown interest in a
comprehensive policy overhaul.

But Democrats couldn’t even hold their own caucus together. Five joined Republicans in the filibuster, including Montana Sens. Max Baucus and Jon Tester, North Carolina Sen. Kay Hagan, Nebraska’s Ben Nelson and Mark Pryor of Arkansas. Had all five voted the other way, the bill would have reached the Senate floor and could have passed by a simple majority vote.

After the vote, Democrats were, at turns, rueful and defiant. Sen. Robert Menendez, D-N.J., said Latino voters would seek retribution at the ballot box, and Sen. Charles E. Schumer, D-N.Y., said he would push to have the measure included in some attempt at comprehensive immigration reform in the next Congress.

Schumer, too, warned that the GOP would
pay a political price for opposing the act. “I don’t think any
political party can succeed writing off such a large percentage of
America,” he said.

Sen. Richard J. Durbin, D-Ill.,
who has backed the effort for a decade, called it an “issue of
justice.” Friday evening, Durbin welcomed scores of immigration
activists to his Capitol Hill office, as supporters readied their final charge.

But Republicans charged that Democrats, led by Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, D-Nev.,
who pledged during his re-election campaign to push the act forward,
knew they didn’t have to votes for passage and instead simply were
using the occasion to score political points with Latino voters.

Others such as Sen. Lindsey Graham, R-S.C.,
told the bill’s youthful supporters that “you are wasting your time”
trying to persuade Republicans to support the bill absent a greater
commitment to securing the U.S. border with Mexico.

“We’re not going to pass the Dream Act or any other
legalization program until we secure our borders,” Graham said. “It
will never be done as a stand-alone. It has to be part of comprehensive
immigration reform.”

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