Immigration Measure May Get Senate Vote

AP

Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid said today he is planning to attach an immigration reform measure that would help undocumented students to the Defense authorization bill slated to hit the Senate floor next week, CBS News Capitol Hill producer John Nolen reports.

The Development, Relief and Education for Alien Minors (DREAM) Act would provide a pathway to citizenship for undocumented young people who came to the United States as minors and attended college or joined the military. Reid said a vote on the bill is long overdue.

"We are going to match our policy with our principles and finally say that in our country everyone who steps up to serve our country should be welcomed," Reid told reporters today. "If they go into the military, serve for two years, they can get a green card. That's what the DREAM Act is all about."

The Defense Authorization bill will also include language that would enable the repeal the "don't ask, don't tell" policy, which prohibits gays and lesbians from serving openly in the military.

Reid, who faces a tough re-election campaign in Nevada, has been pressed hard on both "don't ask, don't tell" and the DREAM Act by liberals dissatisfied with the lack of action on those two fronts.

Putting the DREAM Act up for a vote highlights the distinctions between Reid and his Republican opponent, Sharron Angle, on the issue of immigration reform. Angle is opposed to the measure and has associated it with "amnesty" for undocumented immigrants.

Angle has nonetheless been courting Hispanics, who make up 26 percent of Nevada's population and accounted for 15 percent of the electorate in 2008, according to the Las Vegas Review-Journal. Angle's campaign told the Associated Press it is seeking out Hispanic endorsements and has plans to air ads in Spanish.

With polls showing Reid running neck-and-neck with Angle, the Hispanic vote could be critical for him. Earlier this year, Reid told Hispanic activists that there would be "no excuses" if he failed to deliver comprehensive immigration reform this year. With no hope left for comprehensive reform this year, the DREAM Act could be Reid's best opportunity to deliver for Hispanic activists.

Reid and Angle have aggressively attacked each other over their respective efforts to win Hispanic votes. After Angle told the AP she would run Spanish ads, the Reid campaign pointed out that in 2006 she opposed having election materials available in Spanish. Meanwhile, conservatives blasted Reid for racial insensitivity last month after Reid said, "I don't know how anyone of Hispanic heritage could be a Republican."

Reid would not say today, as the AP notes, whether he had the votes to pass the DREAM Act.

CBSNews.com Special Report: Campaign 2010

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Stephanie Condon is a political reporter for CBSNews.com. You can read more of her posts here. Follow Hotsheet on Facebook and Twitter.

[kem1963]

I am truly shocked with the some "Americans" that are promoting CRIME and saying it is OK to brake the law here, American will let you get away with it. what about the ones that fought to get there citizenship legally. you might as will spit in there faces and tell them they wasted there time Americans would kiss your but% and let you brake the law.

[kem1963]

by jgg000101 here here so true. from the time they are 18 they find out there documents are fake and they still continue to brake the law till they are 35 + I do feel that from 18 to the month before turning 21 they should have the option to get legalized. if they choose not to then deport them on there 21st birthday if they are not at least signed up for being legalized before there 21st B.D that should be there birthday gift for being stupid

[kem1963]

from the age of 21 to 35 the illegals know they are illegal and refuse to become legal from 18 to 21 they are nieve so they sould not be punished. children under 18 may not know and they should not be punished for the parents illegal actions so both parent should prove who their children are then forced to become a legal citizen with a certain amount of time to do so also 18 to 21should do this, or be deported with there children what is so hard about this, 21 and over with out children deport and parents with children forcible citizenship they have to pay what ever fees there would be to become legal that should not be the tax payers burden, if they care about their children they will do this or deported for the whole family then it will only be the parents fault because they would be choosing to not be legal this situation takes care of the children if the parent want it to and the one that

[0602ccc]

I am truly shocked with the way some "Americans" are reacting towards the DREAM act. The reason for this is that it surprises me how in a country that was founded by immgrants there could be so many people who oppose immigration reform. All of these so called Americans that are against this law should look back at who their ancestors were. It is really sad that there are so many students who have so much potential to succeed are not even receiving the opportunity to pursue the American dream.

[jgg000101]

nobody opposes immigration reform, and the dream act is not immigration reform. What it does is reward illegal behavior with taxpayer dollars, and it fully explains why the government wanted to control student loans. Yes, most everybody's ancestors were immigrants. However, they came to this country legally and to make a better life for themselves -- not to be patted on the head and given entitlements for breaking our laws.

[fsk01]

I support the dream act. It gives children who have grown up and been schooled here in the US a chance to succeed. Most don't even remember their native countries; they also must attend college or the military so this assures that they speak english and can write in english as well. I think that the US keeps avoiding solutions about illegal immigration. Deporting them all is too expensive and would be impossible, allowing them to live here, like we are now, is going to create a subclass that will always work under the table and never assimilate. Something should be done.

[LouDawg]

The DREAM Act is written incredibly poor. A 35 year old illegal can take advantage of it. How much you wanna bet the community college rolls will swell with illegals if this passes?

And all you have to do is pass 2 years of community college? Sounds like every stoner I knew from high school and they aren't contributing to society.

[jgg000101]

what a pandering slimeball this guy is. What do undocumented students have to do with a defense bill other than to curry favor with latinos for harry reid. This moron is trying to buy votes using what is supposed to be defense funds. It's just like he bought healthcare votes using taxpayer money for the Louisiana purchase and cornhusker kickback. Unfortunately, I also think sharon angle is a nutjob. This is like a choice between a headache or a stomach ache.

[ism3c]

Even though I am Hispanic American, I would not like for 12-20 million people to be legalized. I am 23 years of age and my main concern is growing up and seeing my city being turned into a circus by the recent illegals who feed off their US born children. These people don?t know suffering like the Dream Act youth do. I have taken this issue into my heart after befriending fellow youth (13-55 years of age) Hispanics Americans who turned out did not have legal status, yet resembled my attitudes and values towards our flag and military in every way. Many of these people seem to be moderate conservative and I find it ridiculous that the Republicans are the ones against these youth becoming legalized. These people did not commit a crime when children, they were involved in a crime. As a moderate from the middle I hope Republicans make a compromise in immigration and take these young adults into our land. They are not low-skilled or want anything to do with Mexico, on the contrary, many of them want to join the military, have finished college or want to finish college without us paying a dime. If anything these people would pay back their early years of education and high taxes due to their higher education and crave for successes.

Hello American Citizen,
I hope I don?t bore you. I am one of these illegal youth who would become conditional residents if the bill passed. I would like to tell you a short view of Life in my eyes
and also ask that you play nice while deciding my life.
Growing up in America, I became sadden, as I saw this country change. As a teenager, I disconnected from my roots because the people who raised me and the neighborhood humans living there, were very illogical. Even if this bill does not pass, I will never be an Illegal or say I committed a crime. Even if I had to live in Mexico, I know I was never illegal. You will never be right when calling me illegal because God told me this. When little, God said to me that if I was righteous, honest, hard working and fought for knowledge he would compensate me with an intelligent mind and exceptional values. I believe he gave me those values and mind, I became Americanized. Before I knew of governments and ideologies, I made a promise I would respect and serve the country I was brought to. I even tried to enter the Air Force believing I had to prove myself, only to find out I was ?illegal.? I?m sure you would find those records, as the Air Force kept calling me back for a year.
But all I ask is that you do not confuse me with those immigrants who have come in recent years only to feed off their US born children. My mother fought hard to give us all she could without ever getting money from the tax system, even when my US born sister was born. We know of many illegal immigrants who are pure evil and abuse this land. My mother bought a house, so she always had to keep track of her taxes. Even when she lost her house she did not ask for government help from my sister?s status. So I do beech that you may remember I am not an illegal and I will never be. I do wish many of these recent undocumented people should go back to Mexico to be taught what suffering is a little bit more. But when you decide on my life this fall, please have the kindness of the God in your thought process. If the bill doesn?t pass, I know I will have to go and if I do go, please know that the people who did respect America and contributed love and productivity to it, never thought you owed us anything. We always wanted to prove to the American citizen how much help we could be to you.
Thank you for your moment, in this space and time.
Noe C., the illegal american

[Deece58]

While I can certainly agree that illegal immigrant youth should not be punished for their parents' conscious decision to put them in an unfortunate situation and render them illegal aliens, I also do not believe I should be punished for their decision. By taking a position that would require me to part with my income / pay taxes to subsidize their *in state* college tuition you are in essence advocating that I be penalized and forced to compensate for their parents' poor judgment. They have a legitimate gripe here but their frustration is completely misdirected. I am not responsible for their predicament. If they are looking to place blame, they needn't look any further than their mother and father.

[JeDaCo]

I would much rather live next door to a young person who got a good education, served in the military and was trying to make a good life for themselves than to live next to many of the narrow-minded tea-baggers writing in to this comment section. My feeling goes further - anyone who comes here for an education deserves as fast-track to citizenship. Far too many poorly literate Neanderthals think they are better than anyone else and give a bad name to what it means to be an American. Work hard, pay your taxes, and give back to your country rather than just think you are superior and above the rest of humanity just because you were born here.

[gwt31]

I believe you're talking about student visas. They allow all nationalities to legally apply for temporary citizenship in order to go to school here. I work with several students that have gone through the proper legal channels to get student visas.

[retm-w]

JeDaCo

Then make everyone of them do time in the service, if they want fast track to citizenship. Let them earn it like every other legal immigrant has had to do. No one thinks they are superior, they want the laws followed and enforced.

[Lewis1942]

CBS:.............Best of 60 Minutes: A TRUE contradiction of terms !!!!

[colowww]

Harry Reid = POS.

PS I'm a democrat and I'm for reducing immigration because, that is the only posible way we can stabilize our population, protect the environment for future generations and ever reduce our carbon foot print.