U.S. Senate blocks DREAM Act

In a Saturday session a week before Christmas, the U.S. Senate voted failed to overcome a procedural vote to move the DREAM Act forward.

The Senate shot down the DREAM Act motion on a 55-41 vote. The U.S. Senate did invoke cloture for the repeal of Don’t Ask Don’t Tell, the law which prohibits openly gay or lesbian citizens from serving in the U.S. military. The legislation went on to pass the full Senate late on Saturday afternoon.

Undocumented youth brought to this country illegally as children, are disappointed in the vote. The law would have created a path to citizenship for these youth, many of whom have known no other country but the U.S.

Under the proposed legislation, youth would have to graduate from high school, then complete two years of college or university or two years of service in the U.S. armed forces. Both of Michigan’s Senators voted in favor of the cloture motion to move the DREAM Act forward.

DREAM Act activists say since 2009 they have contacted the White House and Congress with two million phone calls and faxes.

“This is a vote that the community will not forget,” says Flavia de la Fuente, Dream Activist editor. “When reelections and primaries come around, the failure to pass the Dream Act will be the first thing in our minds.”

Ann Arbor resident Mohammad Abdollahi also weighed in on the Senate vote. Because of an immigration error, his family became undocumented. As a result, Abdollahi has been unable to continue his education. In addition, because he chose to protest at the Arizona offices of Sen. John McCain (R-AZ) and was arrested on a charge of trespassing, he was picked up by Immigration and Customs Enforcement officials. He now faces deportation proceedings which could send him back to Iran. As an openly gay man, he could face harassment, violence, arrest and execution in Iran.

“We appreciate the support and encouragement that the Democratic leadership displayed in support of the Dream Act,” said Abdollahi, “yet we expect the same leadership to act swiftly and to not delay other forms of relief that could be enacted immediately to aide the thousand of undocumented students across the country.”

“On a day that brought the LGBTQ community so much joy and reassurance from the success of DADT, Equality Michigan is saddened and disappointed by the failure of the DREAM Act,” said Emily Dievendorf, policy director of Equality Michigan, an LGBT lobbying and education group in Michigan. “Michigan’s own Mohammad Abdollahi put it best when he told President Obama that his future is being held hostage. Mohammad, a successful student and a resident of the United States since the age of 3, bravely came forward to support the DREAM Act. Deportation to his parents’ home of Iran could mean torture and capital punishment. The loss of the DREAM Act is one more ‘dream deferred’ that gay and lesbians can’t afford.”

In a release from the National Gay and Lesbian Task Force, Rea Carey, executive director of the group, has this to say about the DREAM Act vote:

“Passage of the DREAM Act would have brought our nation closer to ensuring brighter and more secure futures for our young people, including countless lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender youth, by providing them a path to citizenship. It is deeply disappointing that the Senate today refused to even allow a vote on the bill. One of our country’s core beliefs is that everyone should get a fair shake to fully participate in civic life and be able to build a future in the country they love and call home. Passage of the DREAM Act would have done justice to this fundamental and humane principle. It would have marked an important first step toward fixing this nation’s broken immigration system. Instead, the futures of thousands of young people continue to hang in the balance because a few lawmakers have placed politics over people and principle.”

President Barack Obama also expressed disappointment on the failure of the DREAM Act.

“In an incredibly disappointing vote today, a minority of Senators prevented the Senate from doing what most Americans understand is best for the country,” Obama said in a statement released by the White House. “It is disappointing that common sense did not prevail today. But my administration will not give up on the DREAM Act, or on the important business of fixing our broken immigration system. The American people deserve a serious debate on immigration, and it’s time to take the polarizing rhetoric off our national stage.”