DREAM Act Vote Early As Next Week

Yesterday Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid announced that the DREAM Act will come to a vote in the Senate as early as next week.

Suzanne Gamboa of the Associated Press has the full details in her story Immigrants Measure Could Come Before Senate:

The Nevada Democrat said at a Capitol news conference that the legislation known as the DREAM Act is long overdue. But he wouldn't say whether he has the votes for the amendment. The act allows young people who attend college or join the military to become legal U.S. residents.

However Senate Majority Leader did note that he may not have the votes to pass the legislation:

Asked whether he had the votes for the DREAM Act, Reid responded: "I sure hope so."

One thing is for sure the politics surrounding the timing of this vote are complex:

President Barack Obama has been under fire in the immigrant and Hispanic communities because Congress has failed to move an immigration reform bill despite his promise to address the issue in his first year in the Oval Office.

Some critics say Democrats' end-of-the-year push on immigration reform is a political move. Reid is facing a tough re-election challenge from tea party favorite Sharron Angle, who supports tougher immigration laws. Hispanics make up a quarter of Nevada's population.

Even within the Congressional Hispanic Caucus there is some skepticism around the move to introduce the legislation. Kathleen Hunter of Roll Call has the full details in her story Hispanic Representatives Seek Assurance About Reid's Plan:

“I want to see what the Senate comes up with,” said Democratic House Caucus Vice Chairman Xavier Becerra (Calif.), the chamber’s highest-ranking Hispanic lawmaker. “The concern is, will it be a constructive fix? Will the Senate move the ball forward on fixing the system? If the Senate can move the ball forward on fixing the system, I don’t think anyone’s going to object to that.”

As positive a development as this has been, some members worry that this could derail carefully laid plans for other immigration legislation:

Hispanic Caucus Vice Chairman Charlie Gonzalez (D-Texas) said Hispanic lawmakers were concerned that other provisions, such as a worker program for farm laborers or visa rules, could also get tacked onto the Senate proposal, a scenario that might anger stakeholders, such as the business community, that overhaul advocates had worked hard to bring to the table.

“The DREAM Act has to be a clean DREAM Act. It cannot include other aspects,” Gonzalez said. “We figured it would be tied in with other provisions that are part of a comprehensive reform measure, and we don’t want that.”

Nicole Allen of The Atlantic notes that there may be a larger strategic plan for putting DREAM in the Defense Authorization Bill:

By slipping DREAM into the defense authorization bill, Reid sets a potential trap for Republicans: vote against the immigration measure and risk being portrayed as stiffing the troops less than two months before midterm elections.

Votes are expected early next week.