This week, the Senate might hold a vote for cloture on the
Development, Relief, and Education for Alien Minors Act (S.
2205), or the DREAM Act. This bill shares many of the worst
attributes of the comprehensive immigration and border security
reform bill that failed in the Senate last spring. The measure does
nothing to enhance immigration and border enforcement, undermines
the rule of law, and would encourage further illegal entry and
unlawful presence in the United States. Clothing the bill as a
"humanitarian" gesture is disingenuous; trying to fast-track the
legislation for passage without debate or amendments is
inexcusable.
A New-Old Nightmare
Senators Chuck Hagel (R-NE), Richard Lugar (R-IN), and Dick
Durbin (D-IL) introduced the DREAM Act. The bill purports to grant
amnesty to individuals unlawfully in the United States who arrived
before the age of 16. Publicized as a humanitarian measure for
children, the bill would allow applicants to immediately receive
conditional legal status, including eligibility for federal
benefits like student loans.
The DREAM Act is not a new legislative proposal developed in the
wake of the amnesty bill's collapse earlier this year; the DREAM
Act was first proposed five years ago. Its implications for
undermining the enforcement of U.S. immigration laws were so
obvious that the measure was never voted out of the Senate
Judiciary Committee. The legislation was then embedded in the
comprehensive immigration reform bill, an addition that almost went
unnoticed due to that bill's many controversial components. Given
its troubling past, the current effort to bring the DREAM Act
directly to the floor is even more alarming.
Bad Bill Walking
The DREAM Act represents little more than amnesty that rewards
parents who brought their kids to United States in violation of the
law. The bill contains the following significant defects:
- The bill would make applicants eligible for in-state tuition,
which would discriminate against U.S. citizens from out of state
and law-abiding foreign students;
- The bill would place no limits on when individuals could apply
or the number of persons who could apply. This would leave the
program open to widespread abuse and rampant fraud.
Conclusion
This bill, regardless of the humanitarian goals claimed by its
supporters, would further undermine efforts to enforce immigration
laws and border security. It would make the task of securing the
U.S.-Mexican border more difficult, and it would lead to higher
costs for the state and local governments that bear much of the
fiscal burden of unlawful presence. In the end, the DREAM Act is
not a proposal for keeping America safe, free, and prosperous.
James Jay Carafano,
Ph.D., is Assistant Director of the Kathryn and Shelby Cullom
Davis Institute for International Studies and Senior Research
Fellow for National Security and Homeland Security in the Douglas
and Sarah Allison Center for Foreign Policy Studies at The Heritage
Foundation.