Dream on
Supporters of the Dream Act have failed to muster the votes required to invoke cloture, thus effectively killing the legislation for now. The vote was 52-44. Sixty votes were needed to call up the Act.
About an hour before the vote, the White House issued a statement opposing the Dream Act. It said:
By creating a special path to citizenship that is unavailable to other prospective immigrants — including young people whose parents respected the nation’s immigration laws — [the bill] falls short. The administration therefore opposes the bill.
Sen. Lindsey Graham, who had supported comprehensive immigration this summer, also opposed the Dream Act. He argued that it would “stiff the will” of the American people who oppose any form of amnesty for illegal immigrants and would put 1.3 million people on path to citizenship, ahead of those who entered the country legally.
Sen. John McCain was not present for the vote, having left for Iowa after voting to confirm Judge Southwick. However, McCain said he probably would have voted against cloture because he understood that the Democrats were not going to allow amendments. McCain stated, "I don’t think that we can pass the Dream Act by itself." On other occasions, the Senator has said he "has heard" the American people's message that they want border security before new measures are taken on behalf of illegals, and I understand that for McCain this includes action of the kind contemplated by the Dream Act.
