Senate to vote on DREAM Act pre-November?

[alp227]

That's what Jorge Ramos, news anchor from the Spanish-language TV network Univision, suggested in Twitter:

Important: Senator Harry Reid wants to bring the Dream Act to the Senate floor before November, his spokesperson told me.

h/t: Colorlines.com, which provides more background at link.

So if Reid goes ahead with this, you can expect Republicans to appeal to their xenophobic sheep base with ads such as "Democrats support helping illegals invade your colleges and keep YOUR hardworking, good ol' children out of college!" Appealing to the crowd of "I've got connections and a trust fund (or other privileges), and my kids belong in that campus, not some lazy welfare-leeching Mexicans!" (and you know how privileges like citizenship and getting to pay in-state tuition sometimes decrease some students' motivation for hard work). Of course those types of constituents are oblivious to the fact that only the undocumented immigrants with CLEAN CRIMINAL RECORDS (besides the obvious immigration law violation of course) and who actually graduate from college may gain legal residency. Maybe it's because those xenophobes are afraid of falling out of their mighty high American pedestal, the nasty truth about American education be damned.

Although I personally appreciate the DREAM Act, is it really appropriate in a time when immigration has become a dirty word, and the GOP is scapegoating immigrants for the recession, and pretty much every immigration reform measure (even those supported by none other than George W. Bush) have failed?

[bluestateguy]

1. I can't support it at this time

but I will say that any politician or teabagger that uses this bill to fan the flames of xenophobia and bigotry is despicable, and might even persuade me to support the bill.

[pampango]

2. It would be nice, but it seems that the "party of NO" has the 41 votes in the Senate to prevent

it happening.

The Congressional Progressive, Hispanic and Black Caucus are behind it but want the senate to go first and that doesn't look likely.