DREAM Act Comes Full Circle, Headed Back To Senate Floor

Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.) said Wednesday that he will bring the DREAM Act back to the Senate floor, but is not yet sure when that will happen. 

“Instead of kicking out of our country people who are educated, we should let them work,” Reid said.

Reid, along with Sens. Dick Durbin (D-Ill.) and Robert Menendez (D-N.J.), announced the bill’s reintroduction, echoing what President Obama said in Tuesday when he called on Congress to pass the DREAM Act.

The renewed fight for the DREAM Act comes after the bill was blocked during December’s lame-duck session. Although it was passed in a Democrat-controlled House, it struggled to gain traction in the Senate. The bill’s most ardent opponents argued that it would grant amnesty to people breaking the law and entering the country illegally. But, Senate Democrats believe that, this time, a vote would yield different results. 

“I am someone that maintains the faith, just like the dreamers have faith that things are going to change,” Reid said. “I have faith that things will change and we can get some Republicans to help us.”

The Senate’s top Democrat said the debate should not be a contest between Democrats and Republicans. 

“We ask the Republicans of good will to step forward and work with us,” Reid said.