10/24/2007
There are several things wrong with this story, although it does contain good news.Immigration plan fails Senate test vote | Chron.com — Houston ChronicleBy JESSE J. HOLLAND Associated Press
Legislation to give some children of illegal immigrants a path toward legality failed a crucial Senate vote Wednesday, probably dooming any chance of major changes to the immigration system this year.
Supporters needed to 60 votes to advance the proposal, but the tally was 52-44. The measure would have allowed illegal immigrants who plan to attend college or join the military, and who came to the United States with their families before they turned 16, to move toward legality.
The Development, Relief and Education for Alien Minors Act — DREAM ACT for short — was a popular part of a broad immigration plan that would have legalized as many as 12 million unlawful immigrants and fortified the border.
That larger bill failed in the Senate in June. But proponents of the DREAM Act wanted to see if it would pass on its own.
"Children should not be penalized for the actions of their parents," said Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, D-Nev.
They definitely shouldn’t refer to the young people to be amnestied by the bill as children of illegal immigrants. The point here is that they're juvenile illegal immigrants themselves. And giving them amnesty and American citizenship is rewarding both them and their parents for a crime, and creating an incentive for further lawbreakers. As for the idea that defeated amnest bill would have "fortified the border," you can believe as much of that as you like.
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