Local Hispanic Republicans Voice Support for DREAM Act
A Contributor Perspective: Dallas Republican National Hispanic Assembly Push for Passage
Jason Villalba, chairman of the Dallas branch of the Republican National Hispanic Assembly, issued a statement affirming the group's support for "reasonable and serious immigration reform, including, but not limited to, the DREAM Act." The proposed legislation, in principle, would make U.S. citizenship possible for undocumented immigrants without a criminal record who have been in the United States for more than five years, were brought here before they turned 16, completed high school, and are either certified to attend college or serve in the military.
Most Democrats support the measure, but some Republicans oppose it. Villalba disagrees with arguments that the DREAM Act is "back door" amnesty. "If someone is brought into the United States before they had an opportunity to personally make that decision, and if such person becomes a contributing member to our great citizenry (and economy) as a college graduate or if such person risks their life in the protection of our freedom as a member of our armed forces, then, in most circumstances, I believe that person has earned the right to be a United States Citizen," he said in a statement issued Monday.
On Tuesday (September 21), efforts by Democrats to attach the DREAM Act to a defense appropriations bill failed, with Republicans accusing Democrats of using the opportunity to stage a political stunt in an effort to win Hispanic votes weeks before the mid-term elections. "Our friends on the other side are playing politics with some very serious issues that directly affect the Hispanic Community," Villalba said.
Many Republicans also voted against the measure in full not because of the DREAM Act, but because the bill also repealed the ban on gays in the military. Orrin Hatch (R-UT), who initially introduced the DREAM Act in 2001, voted against the measure Tuesday because Democrats also included the repeal of the gay ban. "This is a blatant political ploy to try to galvanize his political base as far as the Hispanic community is concerned," Sen. John McCain (R-AZ) said of Senate majority leader Harry Reid's actions before the vote.
The procedural vote to bring the full bill to the Senate floor failed 56-43, with Democrats unable to gather the 60 votes necessary to overcome a Republican filibuster of the bill. The failure of the bill to reach the Senate floor made it highly unlikely that either the DREAM Act or the repeal of the military's "Don't Ask, Don't Tell" policy will be considered again before the November mid-term elections.
Sources: Statement from Jason Villalba, TheHill.com, FoxNews
Published by Victor Medina
Victor has served as a Community Voices columnist for THE DALLAS MORNING NEWS and editor of the NORTH TEXAS HIGH SCHOOL SPORTS REPORT. He has been featured in THE WALL STREET JOURNAL & several national magaz... View profile
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5 Comments
Post a CommentDeter not reward illegal aliens. Blame the parents, not America, for their situation. Do not make legal Americans to continue to support or reward them. They laugh at this system while having multiple births and getting additional tax payer money and start at 16 years old. Wake up
@Francis, you have to have entered the US before your 16th birthday and lived here for 5 years before then! So you have to have come here at the age of 11 or younger and lived here for 5 years + before you turn 16.! Get your facts straight!
In 2009 Ranking Member Texas Rep. Lamar Smith (R-Texas) today criticized House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) for a remarks that affronted federal law enforcement officers. Congressman Smith’s comments came on the House Floor in response to Pelosi’s remarks at a weekend immigration rally in San Francisco, at which Pelosi said enforcement actions by ICE were “un-American.†A longtime supporter of efforts to uphold the rule of law, Smith said the comments were particularly regrettable since more than 12 million U.S. citizens and legal immigrant workers are jobless. According to the most recent Pew estimates, more than seven million illegal immigrants are working in the U.S. As a leading Democrat Pelosi Voted—NO--on building a fence along the Mexican border. Pelosi Voted—NO--on reporting illegal aliens who receive hospital treatment.
You don't even have to be an exceptional student through Sen. Harry Reids Dream Law. Up to age 35 you can get a green card under the DREAM ACT and you can still apply if you entered the country before your fifteenth birthday. Finally, you can begin a chain migration of all immediate family members. In the end we could end up with 2 or 3 million more people, with many going on social security--without paying a penny into the pool? It's already happening now, as after the Amnesty of 1986 millions more entered the country through the "Chain Migration" and many old folks ended up on welfare benefits? Of course if you believe the governments currently they are say there is no backdoor Amnesty, but there have been several ICE memos circulated that people pulled over by the police, shouldn't be held unless they have criminal warrants to detain them. Decide for yourself, if this is a falsehood or an agenda of "Catch and Release."
Pelosi Quote: "In casting a vote against the defense bill, Republicans also betrayed our history of generations of immigrants who came to our shores seeking a better life and striving to take part in the American dream" so that's what majority speaker Nancy Pelosi thinks? Problem is she doesn't differentiate between the millions who came to America legally, after waiting patiently in their home country for years? While for the price of a two-way airline ticket, others arrive here with no intention to returning home. Then millions of illegal aliens who thought just by escaping their own nation and slipping past our undermanned border, they sneak into our lands under the cover of darkness. The propaganda of the Dream Act would allow hundreds of thousands of young people to get an education or serve in our military. And it is a critical step toward our ultimate goal: comprehensive immigration reform or wholesale Amnesty.
But just like all contracts, one needs to read the small print. Y