Senate Delays DREAM Act Vote

One week after Senate Majority Leader Harry M. Reid introduced the possibility of the DREAM Act making its way to the Senate floor this week, the legislation failed to see a final vote yesterday in the Senate due to a Republican filibuster.

The Development, Relief, and Education for Alien Minors Act would have provided qualified undocumented youth with a six-year conditional path to citizenship upon the completion of two years of higher education or two years of military service.

The immigration bill was attached to a larger defense resolution that included a repeal of the “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell” policy currently banning openly gay individuals from serving in the military. With a vote of 60 required, the cloture motion failed to pass with a vote of 56 to 43.

Over the past few months, the University as well as several student organizations on and off campus have rallied in support of the legislation that would provide amnesty to students who immigrated illegally to the United States.

On Monday, University President Drew G. Faust co-signed a letter to Massachusetts state senators with seven other leaders of institutions of higher education in the state, requesting support of the DREAM Act.

Student groups, such as Harvard College Act on a Dream and the Student Immigrant Movement of Massachusetts have made hundreds of phone calls to state Senators to tell them to vote in favor of the DREAM Act.

In May 2009, Faust wrote a letter in support of the legislation to Mass. Rep. Michael E. Capuano.

Faust also met with Mass. Senator Scott P. Brown, in part to urge him to support the DREAM Act.

Brown, who has remained ambivalent on his position in relation to the legislation, voted against the defense resolution and the appended DREAM Act yesterday.

“As a group we are just going to continue to move forward,” said Act on a Dream Co-Director Melissa V. Perez ’13. “The enthusiasm demonstrated by the Senate, President Drew Faust, the federal relations office, and the University as a whole has proved that we have abundant support in our decision to continue.”

Colette S. Perold ’11, a member of the Student Immigration Movement, echoed similar sentiments of continuing the fight despite the setback.

“This was one shot to get the DREAM Act passed, but there’s a lot of shots out there,” Perold said.

“There’s been a general consensus in the press that student and immigrant activists are the reason why Reid put this on the floor... and that just means we’re stronger than ever, and we have to keep going.”

—Staff writer Xi Yu can be reached at xyu@college.harvard.edu.