Pressure is building for the Senate to push the DREAM Act in the wake of the refusal of any Republican to back comprehensive immigration reform. The DREAM (Development, Relief and Education for Alien Minors) Act would allow a conditional permanent residency for students who are earn or on track to earn a college degree.
I asked Reid about the effort behind the bill in Saturday's Q&A session at Netroots Nation, and he responded "I am happy to do the DREAM Act but I'm not going to do the DREAM Act unless I have 60. I'm not going to disappoint thousands and thousands [by bringing it up] unless I can win." Also speaking to Netroots Nation on Saturday, Speaker Pelosi spoke about the reluctance of the Hispanic Caucus to move this as a stand-alone bill, since that could dilute pressure for passing comprehensive reform.
In Roll Call [sub req] today, though, Reid said that he's looking for a way forward for the smaller bill.
“We’re going to continue working on immigration. And if we find a way of doing the big bill, we’ll do that. If not, we’ll have to take a real strong look at the DREAM Act,” Reid said, adding that immigration legislation would not come up before the August recess.
Earlier in the day, Reid spokesman Jim Manley issued a statement saying the lack of GOP support for comprehensive immigration reform was forcing the Majority Leader to explore the possibility of passing smaller bills, such as the DREAM Act and a measure by Sen. Dianne Feinstein (D-Calif.) focused on immigrant farm workers.
That Republican opposition includes Sen. John Cornyn, who couldn't have been more insulting in his dismissal of the effort.
“This is getting to be a joke. No one believes that there is enough time that we could do a responsible job,” said Sen. John Cornyn (Texas), chairman of the National Republican Senatorial Committee. The Senate should approach the issue in “a responsible, reasonable way and not just try to play to the peanut gallery and act like we’re going to do something we’re not.”
That might not go over so well with Cornyn's Latino constituents in Texas. Or with his fellow Republicans who might not want his dismissive attitude toward these young people to speak for them. When a similar measure came before the Senate in 2007, a number of Republicans supported cloture, including Cornyn's Texas colleague Kay Bailey Hutchison.