When asked at yesterday's news conference about the Dream Act failure President Obama said
"there are a number of things that I wanted to get accomplished that we did not get accomplished. But I will tell you, maybe my biggest disappointment was this Dream Act vote." (If you can be patient through the video's 30 seconds of commercials the answer is awesome. If not, the full text is at the bottom of this diary).
Obama sees the reality of these kids. He meets them. He reads their letters. We all know that many of our best and brightest are undocumented. If we waste this talent and energy it's a bad thing for America.
Ironically, after Obama's inauguration even George Bush said that one of his biggest disappointments was the failure to pass a comprehensive bill on immigration reform.
George Bush may have been one of our worst presidents, but he knew that immigration reform was extremely important for our country and the nature of the debate is very divisive for our nation.
"I firmly believe that the immigration debate really didn't show the true nature of America as a welcoming society," he said. "I fully understand we need to enforce law and enforce borders. But the debate took on a tone that undermined the true greatness of America, which is that we welcome people who want to work hard and support their families."
The nature of the debate, even with some here at dkos, is that immigrants are stealing our jobs, committing crimes and are undesirable. We are a nation of Immigrants. Immigrants also create many jobs. Most economists claim they help our economy. Let's change the dialogue. Let's not let the immigrant bashers control the debate.
Back to the Dream Act.
This is a summary of the basic Dream Act proposals. You:
- Must have entered the United States before the age of 16.
- Must have been present in the United States for at least five (5) consecutive years prior to enactment of the bill.
- Must have graduated from a United States high school.
- Must be between the ages of 12 and 35 at the time of application.
- Must have good moral character .
If you have these qualification then you can apply for a temporary legalization. Only 6 years later can you get your green card. And that's only if you still qualify. And you must also have finished two years of military service or two years of college to get that green card.
How is this so scary to so many?
As Obama said:
"And it is heartbreaking. That can’t be who we are, to have kids, our kids, classmates of our children who are suddenly under this shadow of fear through no fault of their own."
It truly is heartbreaking to see the way deportation and the constant fear of deportation of our family, friends and neighbors causes so much pain to so many. They tend to be powerless politically, so they need the help of all of us of good will.
And we need the help of moderate (or afraid of pro-immigrant voters) Republicans. Write letters, send emails and call your wavering Senators and Congressmen. Talk to your friends, families and neighbors. Get your churches and organizations organized and involved. Change the dialogue.
Obama said:
I'm going to engage in Republicans who, I think, some of them, in their heart of hearts, know it’s the right thing to do, but they think the politics is tough for them.
Well, that may mean that we’ve got to change the politics. And I’ve got to spend some time talking to the American people, and others have to spend time talking to the American people, because I think that if the American people knew any of these kids, they probably do, they just may not know their status, they’d say, of course we want you. That’s who we are. That’s the better angels of our nature.
Please everyone, go out and change the politics, talk to the American people and to Congress. Let's do right by these kids. Appeal to the better angels of their nature.
If we do, then Obama's words will change from disappointment into fullfillment.
Merry Christmas, Happy Holidays and a very prosperous New Year to you and your family President Obama and all of you and yours!
Let's get the Dream Act passed.
The full text of Obama's 11/22/2010 Question and Answer about the Dream Act vote is here.
Mr. President, you’ve been able to fulfill many of your promises. Immigration reform isn’t one of them. Just this last weekend, the DREAM Act failed cloture by five votes, and five Democrats didn't support it, three Republicans did. How are you going to be able to keep your promise when the Republicans control the House when you haven’t been able to do so with Democrats controlling both the Senate and the House, and when Republicans say they want to focus on border security before they do anything on immigration?
Obama: Well, let me say, there are a number of things that I wanted to get accomplished that we did not get accomplished.
But I will tell you, maybe my biggest disappointment was this Dream Act vote. You know, I get letters from kids all across the country, came here when they were five, came here when they were eight; their parents were undocumented. The kids didn’t know. kids are going to school like any other American kid, they’re growing up, they’re playing football, they’re going to class, they’re dreaming about college. And suddenly they come to 18, 19 years old and they realize even though I feel American, I am an American, the law doesn’t recognize me as an American. I’m willing to serve my country. I’m willing to fight for this country. I want to go to college and better myself and I’m at risk of deportation.
And it is heartbreaking. That can’t be who we are, to have kids, our kids, classmates of our children who are suddenly under this shadow of fear through no fault of their own. They didn’t break a law, they were kids.
So my hope and expectation is that, first of all, everybody understands I am determined and this administration is determined to get immigration reform done. It is the right thing to do. I think it involves securing our borders, and my administration has done more on border security than any administration in recent years. We have more of everything, ICE, Border Patrol, surveillance, you name it.
So we take border security seriously. And we take going after employers who are exploiting and using undocumented workers, we take that seriously. But we need to reform this immigration system so we are a nation of laws and we are a nation of immigrants. And at minimum, we should be able to get the Dream Act done.
And so I’m going to go back at it and I’m going to engage in Republicans who, I think, some of them, in their heart of hearts, know it’s the right thing to do, but they think the politics is tough for them.
Well, that may mean that we’ve got to change the politics. And I’ve got to spend some time talking to the American people, and others have to spend time talking to the American people, because I think that if the American people knew any of these kids, they probably do, they just may not know their status, they’d say, of course we want you. That’s who we are. That’s the better angels of our nature.
And so one thing I hope people have seen during this lame duck, I am persistent. I am persistent. If I believe in something strongly, I stay on it. And I believe strongly in this.
And I am happy to engage with the Republicans about, if they’ve got ideas about more on border security, I’m happy to have that conversation. And I think that it is absolutely appropriate for the American people to expect that we don’t have porous borders and anybody can come in here any time. That is entirely legitimate.
But I also think about those kids. And I want to do right by them, and I think the country is going to want to do right by them, as well.