Washington, D.C.– Rep. Raúl M. Grijalva today thanked Rep. Howard Berman (D-Calif.) and Sen. Richard Durbin (D-Ill.) for introducing the Development, Relief and Education for Alien Minors (DREAM) Act of 2011 in their respective chambers of Congress. Grijalva has supported the DREAM Act since coming to Congress in 2003 and said he would strongly support the measure this year.
The DREAM Act – which passed the House of Representatives last year and got 55 Senate votes but was filibustered by Senate Republicans – provides a path to conditional legal residency for an undocumented immigrant child if he or she:
Eligible people would have six years to earn lawful permanent resident status if they:
The measure, which was included in the Comprehensive Immigration Reform for America’s Security and Prosperity Act in the last Congress and then voted on separately, was introduced the day after President Obama delivered a speech calling for immigration reform in El Paso, Texas, which Grijalva called “absolutely the humane approach we need right now.”
“We came very close last year, and this year’s focus on economic issues provides us all the more reason to keep pushing,” Grijalva said. “The DREAM Act will bring millions of people living here into compliance, increase our tax rolls and unleash huge business potential. Pundits and prognosticators make a mistake when they say a tough economy means a more negative attitude about immigration reform. In polling taken just before last year’s election, sixty-six percent of Americans supported the DREAM Act. That figure would represent a landslide in a referendum. America’s ready for a better policy, and Congress should be also.”