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Contact: Helen Machado
202 225-1766
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Congresswoman Comments on Today's Failed DREAM Act Vote in U.S. Senate
Washington,
Sep 21, 2010 -
Today, Senate Democrats came up short in their bid to end a Republican filibuster of the annual defense authorization bill, dooming hopes of using that legislation as a vehicle to finally pass the DREAM Act on behalf of tens of thousands of undocumented students. In response, Congresswoman Roybal-Allard—an original co-author of the House-version of this critical legislation (HR 1751)—condemned the politically-motivated vote but pledged to continue fighting to fix America’s broken immigration system.
“Today in the Senate, partisan political interests prevailed over our national interest, barring passage of a critical defense bill and preventing a long-awaited up or down vote on the DREAM Act. Sadly, this defeat means children raised in America will continue to be denied the rights and responsibilities of American citizenship. Yet, despite this setback, I remain confident that we will ultimately succeed in ending the policies that waste our investments in these talented young people and squander their intellectual gifts.”
The DREAM Act offers a prudent, equitable solution to the challenges that undocumented students face in attempting to gain admission to our colleges and universities. First, it provides a path to legalization and citizenship to students who entered the U.S. before the age of 16, have lived here for 5 years, and have completed two years of higher education or military service. Second, because they often face severe economic hardships, the bill also eliminates a federal provision that discourages states from allowing undocumented students to pay in-state tuition.
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