Sorry DREAMers, your DREAM is dead
I really did not think this could fail. The act asks that children of illegal immigrants that were brought to the US when they were very young, should get a path to citizenship. The path will include education and serving in the military, among other conditions and will take years to actually get it but they won’t have to hide anymore.It makes sense, because these kids are not leaving the country anyway, they are going to be here and take up jobs anyway, may be not the jobs they deserve but other lower-wage jobs that illegal immigrants usually do. The enterprising ones will leave the country and go to places where they can work without hiding in the shadows, but the majority will stay and find a workaround.
What’s even more unfair is that if the child was born after the parents migrated illegally to the US, those kids are citizens at birth. So if a 9 month pregnant woman migrates to the US and gives birth here, her baby is a citizen, but a woman who migrates with a 1 week old baby is out of luck. That can’t make sense in any logical person’s book.
Now I am against illegal immigration TOTALLY. Illegal immigrants, i have empathy for them, but I believe they do not deserve a path to citizenship. That’s just me - they committed a crime at first place and you can’t reward them for that. If US needs more labor, there’s got to be a legal way to get that. But children, that’s a different story. They don’t deserve this treatment.
Why punish little kids for the crime their parents committed? Several detailed reports by independent agencies and congressional boards have proved that DREAM would save $11.4 billion over 10 years plus make a significant contribution to military recruitment, which US needs desperately.
But, despite every positive thing going for it, and getting the House stamp of approval, today 12/18, DREAM act did not get the 60 votes needed to take up the closure motion in the Senate. It’s dead. And probably won’t pass for years. Sorry DREAMers. Nobody can blame them if they feel like they should leave the country, after all, the country’s legislators have repeatedly (happened this September too) said clearly that they don’t want them here.
What this means for us LEGAL immigrants is that CIR (Comprehensive Immigration Reform) has a MUCH MUCH smaller chance of passing in 2011. For all practical purposes, CIR will not pass for at least a couple of years, unless some miracle happens. In other words, if you were an Indian/Chinese/Mexican waiting for CIR to clear the way for your green card a little faster, I wouldn’t hold my breath anymore.
EB3 India processing date is currently at Feb 2002, almost 9 years in waiting. EB2 India is a little better with a 5 year waiting period. China and Mexico are a trace better. This is a sad day indeed for legal immigrants and children of illegal immigrants. Other countries, especially in the FB and EB3 categories are not much better. Sorry guys, you are out of luck.
In a way, this is a good thing. There’s more clarity now. You know that permanent residency is NOT going to happen unless you are willing to wait 8-10 years possibly if you are filing a new petition. So just forget about that whole idea and keep an eye out for opportunities in your home countries.
US had the money to attract the sharpest minds, but not the mind to keep them here to make them more money.
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December 18th, 2010 at 6:02 pm
Thanks for the update. I’m very disappointed to learn that the bill didn’t pass today. Could you tell us more about why this would indicate that CIR would not pass either?
December 19th, 2010 at 11:41 am
Though I have sympathy for these kids,I don’t understand why legislations for legal immigration should depend on passage of those for illegal immigration. Does this mean that going through all the cumbersome visa process is not worth it because at the end of the day legal immigration is treated in the same way as illegal immigration…
The reason why the DREAM act didn’t pass is that some legislators thought that it amounts to amnesty for illegal immigrants..in that case why wouldn’t the legislators support legislations for legal immigration since it would encourage people to obey immigration laws..
Am I missing something here ?
December 19th, 2010 at 7:26 pm
I also read that some people didn’t vote for the dream act because they believed that more comprehensive reform was needed instead. So I’m a bit confused on this matter as well…
December 20th, 2010 at 5:52 pm
This precedent would have opened the flood gates for all types of immigration issues and almost nobody wants that. In my mind, everything was arranged so that the bill would be rejected by a small margin so that we are left with the impression that “the good guys” tired their best. Why didn’t the Democrats push this legislation when they had the majority? Why did they wait until after the elections?
December 21st, 2010 at 11:52 am
DREAM would have reinforced the belief that big immigration legislation CAN pass.
It is quite a challenge to make immigration priority for anyone these days. Democrats can’t entirely be blamed for not bringing this up earlier. They tried. There was a vote in September on DREAM that also failed. The problem is the lack of money and support. Health care, the economy and bush tax cuts were on everyone’s minds and wallets. You have to remember, the people that are at stake with immigration are not the people with the deepest pockets. Tax cut law on the other hand, the people trying to make that happen are billionaires. A tax cut for dividents and capital gains that just passed will save each of them several millin dollars annually. So, say 50 million savings for them annually for each billionaire. So they don’t mind spending $1 million in lobbying to make it happen. If all of us immigrants together contribute $1m, that’s a big deal for this community. Money buys a lot in Congress and that’s the fact.
What we do have is numbers. There are only so many billionaires out there but there are a TON of immigrants. Calling senators and telling them your story AGAIN and AGAIN does help. That’s our only real bet to see any form of meaningful change. But immigrants are also not the ones that take intiiative to communicate to their sentators. In our home countries, we are not used to effecting real change in a lawful manner (at least that’s the case in India, where I come from), so they don’t act. They might read this blog, and even write a rant about why they don’t have the green card yet, but they won’t pick up the phone and call.
Anyway, going back to why DREAM’s death means no CIR, is because DREAM was a piecemeal effort to pass a small part of the CIR. DREAM is the part that had bipartisan support and had everything going for it. And at a time when pro-immigration Democrets have a majority in congress. Come January, the Congress is totally split - no majority to block filibusters. And CIR has SO MANY controversial clauses that can be debated endlessly, that the chances of arriving at a consensus are slim.
But may be I am wrong. May be Obama has the knack to pass CIR just like he did it with Health care reform, financial reform and extended bush tax cuts for two years. He is a good deal maker - by giving up too much of what he stands for - but he at least gets the deal DONE. May be he’ll want CIR done next year. But that’s just being too optimisitic.
By all indications at this time, CIR, at least in its current form as a whole, is dead until 2013.
December 22nd, 2010 at 6:44 pm
Thanks for more explanations on this issue. Could you tell us exactly who we should call to advocate CIR? The last time I called a senator’s office, I was told, “CIR is not going to happen this year. It’s not even on a table~.” So I was discouraged.
January 30th, 2011 at 1:01 pm
ema, just pick up the phone and call your state’s senator or congressperson. Write emails to them. Join their mailing list and ensure you comment on their blog if they have one. Those are all ways to get heard - and when enough people voice their opinion, change can happen.
If you see a touching story somewhere on the ‘Net or on this story about legal immigrants sharing their thoughts, send it to them.
All we can do is try and that, we must.
April 2nd, 2011 at 2:05 am
tahnks for the info