GOP Gears Up to Challenge DREAM Act

Senate Republicans and their conservative allies are building their opposition to the proposed DREAM (Development, Relief and Education for Alien Minors) Act. The act establishes a path to citizenship for some illegal immigrants. Conservatives don’t like it, saying it gives “amnesty” to millions of illegal immigrants, including criminals, Politico reports.

The legislation deals with undocumented immigrants who came to this country as kids. The issue had been pushed to the backburner in the lame-duck session. But Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid and House Speaker Nancy Pelosi are pressing for a vote on the act this year.

“In addition to immediately putting an estimated 2.1 million illegal immigrants (including certain criminal aliens) on a path to citizenship, the DREAM Act would give them access to in-state tuition rates at public universities, federal student loans and federal work-study programs,” according to a research paper distributed by Alabama Sen. Jeff Sessions, the ranking Republican on the Senate Judiciary Committee.