GOP Gearing Up For Fight Over DREAM Act

With Democratic leaders in both the House and Senate set to hold votes on the DREAM Act this week, Republicans are making their case against the controversial bill.

Sen. Jeff Sessions (R-Ala.) an ardent opponent of illegal immigration, said Monday that the legislation equates to amnesty for as many as two million people living in the U.S. illegally. Last week, the senior Republican put out a list of ten reasons why lawmakers should vote against the bill, which gives immigrants who came to the U.S. before the age of 16 a conditional opportunity to earn citizenship.

However, Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.) has told aides that he will file cloture on the legislation perhaps as early as Tuesday in an attempt to get it passed during the lame-duck session. If Reid can muster the 60 votes needed to begin debate on the bill, he will move one step closer to fulfilling a major promise he made to Latino voters during his 2010 campaign.

Similarly, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) has vowed to bring companion legislation to the floor this week. The DREAM Act could be the last significant vote Pelosi presides over before she hands the Speaker’s gavel to John Boehner (R-Ohio) in January.

While Sessions and other conservative groups continued their media onslaught against DREAM on Monday, Democrats were feeling emboldened thanks to an op-ed in the Wall Street Journal over the weekend that advised Republicans to support the bill.