Senate retakes the ‘Dream Act’ to grant citizenship to ‘dreamers’

A Republican Senator and a Democrat have resubmitted this bill

The law for ‘dreamers’ emerges amid the wait for Joe Biden’s ‘ambitious’ immigration reform

Senate retakes the ‘Dream Act’ to grant citizenship to ‘dreamers’. The bill was introduced by a Republican and a Democratic senator, amid the expectation for the great immigration reform of Biden.

Sen. Dick Durbin, a Democrat from Illinois, and Republican Lindsey Graham, from South Carolina, again presented a bill on Thursday that would open a path to US citizenship.

Dream Law

Such citizenship would be for almost two million undocumented immigrants who are beneficiaries or eligible for the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) program, Efe points out.

PHOTO Getty Images

The two senators presented their «Dream Law» in 2018 and again in 2019, with the purpose of protecting undocumented immigrants who were brought to the country when they were minors, and whose deportation was suspended since then-President Barack Obama decreed in 2012 a postponement of expulsion.

In 2018, then-President Donald Trump canceled DACA, which caused lawsuits that have reached the Supreme Court of Justice, which is expected to rule in the coming months.

They hope that this year ‘things will be different’

The Sleep Act, named for the term “dreamers” that young people covered by DACA give themselves and that alludes to the “American dream,” made no progress in Congress last year.

This year, with a Democratic majority in both houses and with Democrat Joe Biden in the Presidency, the law could have another future, since now Republicans do not have a majority in the Senate.

A ‘permanent relief’ for dreamers

The Biden Administration has announced a different immigration policy, and both Durbin and Graham believe that this political context is more favorable for the legalization of «dreamers» and their families.

PHOTO The Associated Press

Greisa Martínez Rosas, executive director of the organization United We Dream, said in a statement that the reintroduction of the Sleep Law in the Senate «is direct proof of the undeniable power of young immigrants and our allies, who have pushed for meaningful legislation that protects our communities.»

«Congress has a responsibility to end a 35-year delay in passing meaningful immigration legislation by establishing permanent relief for young immigrants and essential workers,» he added.

They believe that the approval of this law is ‘urgent’

PHOTO MH File

For his part, the president of FWD.us, Todd Schulte, declared «the approval of this project in the coming weeks is urgent, given that the DACA program continues to be under imminent legal threat and millions of dreamers are at risk of deportation» , after the announcement of the presentation in the Senate of the Dream Act that would benefit the Dreamers.

Filed Under: Dream Act Citizenship Act

Some are ‘skeptical’ of the new law

More skeptical, Erika Andiola, a prominent leader of the «dreamers» movement, declared on Twitter: «I have lost count of how many times (the Law of Sleep) has been introduced.»

“It doesn’t matter how many ‘path to citizenship’ bills are presented if Democrats don’t have the will to do so. I have no faith that Republicans support any project that does not give them more xenophobic laws in return, ”Andiola said, while urging the approval of the new project, according to Efe.

PHOTO The Associated Press

It is worth mentioning that the new proposal is announced amid expectations for the new immigration reform that Joe Biden has promised to present to Congress.

Said reform would contemplate a path to citizenship for more than ten million undocumented people, and dreamers would have a greater benefit with the law.