The U.S. Senate blockedĀ the defense authorization bill that included the immigration reform measure known as theĀ DREAM Act, with Florida Sen. George LeMieuxĀ supporting a Republican filibuster.
The Florida Immigrant Coalition and Students Working for Equal Rights, both of which support the immigration measure, issued a press release denouncing the billās failure and criticizing LeMieux.
āSenator LeMieux has demonstrated that he is not a friend of immigrants and that he is not thinking of the future of Florida,ā Felipe Matos, a member of Students Working for Equal Rights, said in the release.
DREAM is an acronym for Development, Relief, and Education for Alien Minors, according toĀ this primer from the Washington Independent.
The idea is to provide a path to citizenship for young people who came to the U.S. as children, some of whom donāt even realize they are not citizens until they try to get a driverās license or apply for college.
Under the act, eligible students can apply for a conditional legal status for a six-year period. During that period, they must graduate from a two-year college, complete two years of a four-year university, or serve in the military for two years. (The military addition replaced community service, which some immigrants rights advocatesĀ have criticized.) At the end of the six-year period, they can become permanent legal residents if they have a clean criminal record.
TheĀ Sun Sentinel reports that LeMieux opposed including the āextraneous and controversial items not critical to securityā in the defense bill.
āWhile I am sympathetic to the students impacted by current law, I cannot support consideration of the DREAM Act until we have taken substantial and effective measures to secure our borders,ā LeMieux said.
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āThe timing of taking up the Dream Act just weeks before an election, and as part of the Defense Authorization Act, is transparently political and unfortunate to those students whose expectations have been raised,ā he said.
