Union Bosses DREAM of a Down Payment for Amnesty

Amid all the controversy surrounding Arizona’s SB1070, a little known bill called the D.R.E.A.M. Act has been sleepily languishing around the halls of Congress, garnering support among the pro-amnesty Left.
Introduced in 2007 and again in 2009, the DREAM Act is an acronym that stands for the Development Relief and Education for Alien Minors Act.
If passed, the DREAM Act [Senate version text here] conditionally establishes permanent citizenship to minors who are currently in the United States illegally.  According to this pro-amnesty site, the DREAM Act’s “conditions” are as follows:

The bill allows current, former, and future undocumented high-school graduates and GED recipients a pathway to U.S. citizenship through college or the armed services.

• An undocumented high-school graduate or GED recipient would be eligible to adjust to conditional lawful permanent resident (LPR) status if they have been physically present in the United States for at least five years and were younger than 16 when they first entered the country.
• This LPR status would be granted on a conditional basis and valid for six years, during which time the student would be allowed to work, go to school, or join the military.
• The “conditional” status would be removed and the person granted LPR status after six years once the student has either completed two years in a program for a bachelor’s degree or higher degree or has served in the armed services for at least two years and, if discharged, has received an honorable discharge.
• DREAM Act students would not be eligible for federal education grants.  Students would, however, be eligible for federal work study and student loans, and individual states would not be restricted from providing financial aid to the students. [Emphasis in the original.]

While there seems to be little chance of passage before the November mid-term elections, the possibility of a “lame duck” Congress moving on the DREAM Act is possible and, in fact, may be likely.
Moreover, as the immigration debate rages on, professional pro-amnesty forces would love to see something (anything) pass this year in order to start paving the way for full amnesty by 2012.
Over the past several days, pushers of the DREAM Act have begun to get more vocal about trying to make the DREAM Act a reality in 2010 with the AFL-CIO Executive Council issuing a statement at its meeting last week, stating:

Undocumented students have waited many years for this legislation to become law, yet have never had the support and political will needed from Congressional Leadership to succeed.  The time to act is now.
The AFL-CIO calls on members of Congress to take immediate steps to pass the DREAM Act in 2010 as down payment to Comprehensive Immigration Reform.

The AFL-CIO’s statement was applauded on Tuesday by the ultra-leftist  United States Students Association, which issued the following statement:

“USSA stands in solidarity with our brothers and sisters in the labor movement as we urge Congress to open the college doors to thousands of the nation’s best and brightest undocumented students,” said USSA President Lindsay McCluskey.  “Access to higher education is a fundamental right and is being violated by our current education and immigration laws.  Passage of the DREAM Act will lead to and strengthen comprehensive immigration reform that will move our country closer to a truly just society.”

Apparently, these professional organizer-students and their AFL-CIO patrons must have skipped the U.S. Constitution classes—especially the ones where the Bill of Rights were taught (either they skipped or they failed).  Nevertheless, among the Rights enumerated by America’s Founding Fathers, “access to higher learning” was not one of them.
Regardless, as the advocates for amnesty continue their condemnation of Arizona while they push for open borders, they know that, following the likely outcome of the November mid-terms, without adding to their steady stream of “progressive voters,” the chance of seeing full-blown amnesty dwindles significantly.  The DREAM Act appears to be the way for them to keep that amnesty dream alive.
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“I bring reason to your ears, and, in language as plain as ABC, hold up truth to your eyes.”  Thomas Paine, December 23, 1776
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