DREAM Act Back on the Agenda!
Call Your Senators NOW!!

Things are moving rapidly on Capitol Hill. Senate offices and Hill newspapers are reporting today that the DREAM Act will likely be on the Senate floor as a stand-alone bill within days! This bill - S.2205 - was introduced last week by Senators Dick Durbin (D-IL), Chuck Hagel (R-NE), and Richard Lugar (R-IN). One source indicates that action may take place on the DREAM Act as early as WEDNESDAY!!!

S.2205 grants amnesty to illegal aliens who arrived in the U.S. before the age of 16. There is NO CAP on the numbers and NO AGE LIMIT for applicants. In addition, the purported educational requirement in the bill is virtually meaningless. Paragraph d(2) of Section 4 allows Homeland Security to waive the educational requirement for applicants who can show “compelling circumstances” for the inability to meet it.  Finally, the bill also provides that illegal aliens who are granted amnesty under the bill are eligible for federal financial aid.

Right now, staffers are anticipating two important votes: the first will be a cloture vote to bring the bill up on the floor; the second will be a cloture vote to end debate on the bill itself. Please call your Senators immediately and urge them to VOTE NO ON BOTH CLOTURE VOTES! If the first cloture vote prevails and the DREAM Act gets onto the floor, news sources indicate that the bill may become the springboard for numerous other immigration amendments. One mentioned in particular is an increase to high-tech H-1B visas.

Finally, there is one more threat on the Hill at this very moment. Senator Kay Bailey Hutchison has filed an amendment to the FY08 Labor-Health and Human Services Appropriations Bill (H.R. 3093) that may increase employment-based green cards by up to 300,000. These green cards would be aimed at importing nurses and high-tech employees to compete with American workers.

Call your Senators now and urge them to vote NO on amnesty and NO on importing foreign workers who will drive down wages and compete with American workers for jobs. Tell your Senators that if they were serious about true immigration reform, they would:

• secure the border;
• mandate employment eligibility verification;
• put an end to state and local sanctuary policies;
• stop businesses from importing cheap foreign labor; and
• end chain migration.

The American people expect real solutions, not short-term "fixes" that pander to big business and corporate lobbyists.

To find the phone numbers of your Senators, click here.                             October 22, 2007