WASHINGTON
Immigration groups are mounting a new effort on the long-debated DREAM Act by trying to attach the education and citizenship measure to a defense bill moving through the U.S. Senate this week.
The DREAM Act, which would give illegal immigrants legal status partly through higher education, has long been a major priority for many education groups. It also was included in comprehensive immigration legislation that failed earlier this year.
After that defeat, however, advocates said they believed the DREAM bill was less controversial than other immigration proposals and vowed to add it to other legislation moving through Congress this fall.
Sen. Richard Durbin, D-Ill., the Senate’s second-highest-ranking Democrat, wants to offer the act as an amendment to the 2008 defense authorization bill this week, said Josh Bernstein, federal policy director at the National Immigration Law Center in Washington, D.C.
“It’s not easy,” he told Diverse, adding that anti-immigrant groups are fighting the move.
“We’re hoping it will come up this week,” he said, noting that the measure may come up on the Senate floor any time from Wednesday to Friday. “It’s hanging in the balance right now.”
