Motivating the Dream Act is the belief that undocumented students, many of whom were brought here as children, should not be punished for their parents' mistakes. The Act was basically the warmest, fuzziest and most digestible piece of immigration legislation that could have been proposed, and the Senate couldn't even muster up enough votes to get the Senate to even debate the Dream Act. The White House- the same one that vetoed the children's healthcare bill- expressed its trademark compassion and came out against the Dream Act right before the Senate voted.

According to the Korean Resource Center, "Over 65,000 undocumented immigrant students graduate from high school each year. One in five Korean Americans are undocumented, with a large percentage under the age of 18. These students consider the U.S. to be their home."

Many immigrants' rights advocates and undocumented students are angry and saddened by the death of the Dream Act in the Senate. "The Dream Act would benefit thousands of innocent students, including many Asian Americans," said Karin Wang, Asian Pacific American Legal Center, Vice President of Programs. Congressman Mike Honda from California, Chair of the Congressional Asian Pacific American Caucus, expressed similar disappointment at the Senate's vote.

The 52-44 majority vote was so close, considering that only 60 votes were needed! Four Senators who were known to support the Dream Act dropped the ball for some reason and didn't show up to vote. (Those calls to Senators can really make a difference people!) Given how close the vote was, there might be some small chance the bill could be brought back to life this year, but don't hold your breath. For undocumented students, any dreams of bettering their lives through college have been deferred AGAIN. Now they have to wait and wait some more for change....

Related posts:
Dream Act
Immigration Reform