US Senate begins debate on immigration bill for minors

WASHINGTON – The US Senate held its first ever hearing on the DREAM Act Tuesday, with Jose Antonio Vargas, the Pulitzer Prize-winning Filipino journalist who outed himself as an undocumented immigrant, in attendance.

Born in the Philippines and brought to the United States as a child, Vargas was treated like a star by Senate staffers who jostled one another for a chance to be photographed with him.

Since his confession last week he has become somewhat of a poster child for young people brought to the US illegally but want the opportunity to continue studying in, or fighting for, the only country they have ever known, with a legitimate path to citizenship.

Witnesses at the hearing chaired by Sen. Dick Durbin, an Illinois Democrat and hosted by the Senate Judiciary Committee’s Subcommittee on Immigration, Refugees and Border Security, included Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano and Education Secretary Arne Duncan.

Durbin has expressed doubts he has the votes needed to get the bill passed through the Senate.

Called the Development, Relief and Education for Alien Minor (DREAM) Act, the measure seeks to give undocumented immigrants the chance to become permanent US residents if they were brought to the US before the age of 16, lived in the country for at least five years prior to the bill’s enactment, graduated from high school and have a clean criminal record.

They must also complete two years in the military or two years of college.

The DREAM Act was first introduced in 2001 and, after setbacks, was re-filed several times.

In her testimony, Napolitano denied Republican charges the Obama administration was trying to bypass Congress by secretly allowing young illegal immigrants to stay in the country.

Republican Sen. Chuck Grassley of Iowa and Texas Sen. John Cornyn questioned her over a recent Immigration Department memo which emphasizes that the government’s priority is to deport dangerous criminals.

The memo advises agents to take “particular care and consideration” when illegal immigrants are veterans, elderly, ill, have been in the country for a long time, or are victims of crimes.

Immigration officials said the memo merely restated previously articulated priorities but immigration hawks have derided it as “backdoor amnesty.”

“There is no mass amnesty here,” Napolitano said.

Passage of the DREAM Act will neither resolve nor substitute for the need for a comprehensive immigration reform to allow 11 million undocumented immigrants in the US to come out of the shadows, Napolitano said.

But while the broader immigration debate continues, Congress should pass the DREAM Act, she said.

Clifford Stanley, the Defense Department’s undersecretary of personnel readiness, in his testimony said 25,000 non-citizens presently serve in the military and allowing more young immigrants to join would open up recruiting opportunities for the armed services.