“The vote by the Senate on Saturday to block a bill to grant legal status to hundreds of thousands of illegal immigrant students was a painful setback to an emerging movement of immigrants and also appeared to leave the immigration policy of the Obama administration, which has supported the bill and the movement, in disarray…
“Supporters believed that the bill — tailored to benefit only immigrants who were brought here illegally when they were children and hoped to attend college or enlist in the military — was the easiest piece to pass out of a larger overhaul of immigration laws that Mr. Obama supports…” (more)
WATCHDOG: The Watchdog stands with the Republicans and five Democrats who voted not to bring the bill to the floor for debate. Neither the New York Times article or today’s Associated Press article in the Sunday News set forth the legitimate arguments by those opposed to the bill.
Opponents said the so called “Dream” would become a “Nightmare” because of the loose and inadequate provisions to 1) Determine when entry into the USA took place; 2) Determine high school graduation; 3) Assure that applicants were attending an accredited college, not an Internet diploma mill; 4) To make provisions for review of hundreds of thousands of applications.
Well meaning or not, the “Dream” was indeed a “back door” for allowing just about every youngster illegally here now or later to jump the line for immigration status and start the path to full citizenship.
As indicated in a recent article, the Watchdog sees merit in greater immigration, perhaps even open borders among Canada, the USA and Mexico. We certainly favor allowing qualified young illegal residents to remain and eventually gain citizenship. Certainly military service should be a path to citizenship. But if we are to do it, let’s enact what we mean rather than a charade.
