DREAM Act Fails in Senate

December 18, 2010

The DREAM Act, a bill that would have allowed some undocumented youth to gain citizenship down the road, failed in the Senate. Julianne Hing of ColorLines has been following this quite closely. In the end, it was literally a handful of Democrats who prevented the passage of the bill:

"North Carolina’s Kay Hagan, Arkansas’ Mark Pryor, Montana’s Max Baucus and Jon Tester, and Nebraska’s Ben Nelson all voted against ending debate on the bill. Meanwhile, some key Republicans voted for the DREAM Act: Lisa Murkowski from Alaska, Richard Lugar from Indiana and outgoing Sen. Bob Bennett from Utah."

More details on the DREAM Act from Hyphen blogger Winston Chou.

The DREAM Act would have allowed undocumented immigrants with a clean record, who are in the military or college for two years, to be on the path to citizenship. The path is a long one and not even easy, but it was a big hope for many of the DREAM activists, or "DREAMers." (More to come about how the DREAM Act affects Asian American students and youth).

Contributor: 

Momo Chang

Senior Contributing Editor

Momo Chang is the Content Manager at the Center for Asian American Media, and freelances for magazines, online publications, and weeklies. Her writings focus on Asian American communities, communities of color, and youth culture. She is a former staff writer at the Oakland Tribune. Her stories range from uncovering working conditions in nail salons, to stories about “invisible minorities” like Tongan youth and Iu Mien farmers. She has freelances The New York Times, WIRED, and East Bay Express, among other publications.

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