Sen. Richard Durbin should wake up and smell the coffee. Americans won't accept amnesty whether it's served super-sized or bite-sized.
Durbin was forced to pull his DREAM Act, amnesty for young illegal immigrants, from the Department of Defense authorization bill. Though Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid promises a vote on this nightmare legislation mañana, amnesty supporters can dream on.
As outlined in a comment in the Immigration Daily, the DREAM Act was just the beginning:
DREAM may become reality soon. After the CIR [comprehensive immigration reform] debacle, no one thought serious immigration benefits legislation had any chance in 2007. It appears that we might be in for a very pleasant surprise… Here's why everyone who wants immigration benefits, of whatever kind, should care about DREAM. If DREAM succeeds on the Senate floor, there is a whole slew of benefit bills lined up right behind it – SKIL, AgJOBS, you name it. We believe that once the benefits dam breaks in Congress, a flood of benefits will follow (emphasis added). Our best read of the House at this time is that the House Democratic leadership will permit a vote on any immigration benefits to come from the Senate, and we believe that there are plenty of votes on the House floor for targeted benefits like DREAM, SKIL and AgJOBS, etc. That is why DREAM is worth pushing for, even apart from its intrinsic merit, since a veritable cornucopia of benefits may well result in the wake of its success.
In the wake of its failure, Josh Bernstein, federal policy director for the National Immigration Law Center, told the Associated Press:
The politics is right and the commitment is there. We're not giving up.
Hey Josh, neither are we.
