The Dream Act

That sorry excuse for a senator, Harry Reid, has now said that he will attach the Dream Act to the Defense Appropriations bill. The Dream Act gives illegal aliens who came her as children a path towards citizenship that allows them to bypass the stigma that the illegal acts of their parents placed on them. Basically, the act says that any person who came to this country at age 15 or younger more than five years ago can apply for citizenship if he or she meets the following criteria: 1) they have to have a high school diploma; 2) they have to now either enroll in a college and complete two years of studies or else enlist in the military and serve two years; 3) they have to have good moral character (no criminal record); 4)they have to be between 12 and 35 years old; 6) they have to apply for conditional residency permits and then, after that is granted live here for five and a half more years without incident; and 7)they have to apply for citizenship after that.

The Act seems quite fair to me. Certainly, if a man or woman is willing to enlist and serve two years in the service of the USA, it seems only fair to allow that person to become a citizen. Beyond that, these people were all brought here by their parents. We should not hold the illegal acts of the parents against the children. If they are long term residents of the USA, they should get a path to citizenship.

It should be made clear, however, that once these folks become citizens, their citizenship cannot be used to bootstrap in their parents as relatives of a citizen. This should not be a back door for those who intentionally came here illegally.

The truth, however, is that this bill will probably not pass. An immigration bill at this late date is sure to tie up the Senate for days. And days is all that we have in the upcoming session. If the Dream Act takes up two weeks of fighting, that means that there will not be time for anything else. That means no economic measures. That means the tax issues will just get put off. In short, Harry Reid just put his own re-election efforts ahead of the interests of the USA. While that should not surprise anyone who has seen this smarmy varmint pretend to be a senator, it is still totally disgusting.

I am looking forward to Senator Angle of Nevada joining the Senate. Hopefully, the homefolks in Las Vegas will see this stunt for what it is: a hail Mary pass from the 2 yard line. Reid just has to go.