POLITICO.COM : Harry Reid and Barack Obama support the DREAM Act : a bill legalizing certain undocumented immigrants if they attend college for X years or join the military.
POLITICO.COM
Dems change strategy on immigration
By CARRIE BUDOFF BROWN
September 14, 2010
Dems change strategy on immigration
Some excerpts :
In a strategy shift on immigration reform, Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.) announced Tuesday that Democrats will try to pass a bill legalizing certain undocumented immigrants if they attend college for two years or join the military.
Reid will offer the DREAM Act as an amendment next week to the Defense Department authorization bill, thrusting the thorny, contentious issue of immigration reform back into the spotlight as Democrats struggle to blunt a Republican surge ahead of the November mid-term elections.
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In an interview last week, Obama told the Spanish-language newspaper La Opinion that he supports the DREAM Act, and would take his cue from the Congressional Hispanic Caucus on whether it should move separately from a comprehensive immigration reform bill. But he raised concerns that would imperil the broader strategy of a more sweeping overhaul.
“I just don’t want anybody to think that if we somehow just do the DREAM Act, that that solves the problem,” Obama said. “We’ve got a bigger problem that we have to solve. We still need comprehensive immigration reform. The DREAM Act can be an important part of that, and, as I said, I’m a big supporter of that. But I also want to make sure that we don’t somehow give up on the bigger strategy.”
Supporters of the bill say young people who came here as children with their parents should be allowed to contribute to the only country they have known by attending college or joining the military. But opponents say the proposal is a back-door amnesty program that creates an incentive for more families to cross the border illegally.
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“Kids who grew up as Americans should be able to get their green card to go to college or serve in the military,” Reid said.
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Reid will offer the DREAM Act as an amendment next week to the Defense Department authorization bill, thrusting the thorny, contentious issue of immigration reform back into the spotlight as Democrats struggle to blunt a Republican surge ahead of the November mid-term elections.
.........................
In an interview last week, Obama told the Spanish-language newspaper La Opinion that he supports the DREAM Act, and would take his cue from the Congressional Hispanic Caucus on whether it should move separately from a comprehensive immigration reform bill. But he raised concerns that would imperil the broader strategy of a more sweeping overhaul.
“I just don’t want anybody to think that if we somehow just do the DREAM Act, that that solves the problem,” Obama said. “We’ve got a bigger problem that we have to solve. We still need comprehensive immigration reform. The DREAM Act can be an important part of that, and, as I said, I’m a big supporter of that. But I also want to make sure that we don’t somehow give up on the bigger strategy.”
Supporters of the bill say young people who came here as children with their parents should be allowed to contribute to the only country they have known by attending college or joining the military. But opponents say the proposal is a back-door amnesty program that creates an incentive for more families to cross the border illegally.
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“Kids who grew up as Americans should be able to get their green card to go to college or serve in the military,” Reid said.
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