MALDEF

MALDEF Responds to House Passage of DREAM Act

Thomas A. Saenz, MALDEF President and General Counsel, Statement on DREAM Act Vote by the U.S. House of Representatives

December 8, 2010

WASHINGTON, D.C. – Today, the U.S. House of Representatives voted on the latest version of the DREAM Act (the Development, Relief and Education for Alien Minors Act). The final vote was 216-198 in favor of passing the DREAM Act. The DREAM Act would provide a qualified path to citizenship for thousands of immigrant youth and young adults seeking to obtain a college degree or to serve in the U.S. Military, and who otherwise meet the conditions of the law. For the last decade, MALDEF and other organizations nationwide have pushed to transform the bi-partisan supported DREAM Act into a reality.

Thomas A. Saenz, President and General Counsel of MALDEF, issued the following statement in response to today's vote on the DREAM Act:

"Today the House of Representatives took a courageous and patriotic step by passing the DREAM Act. We urge the Senate to put aside the politics of exclusion and to join in enacting this important legislation. The DREAM Act would help to alleviate the nation's dire need for highly-educated workers and for highly-motivated service members by ending the current practice of discarding through disallowance the contributions of some of our nation's most successful young students."

"The Act also vindicates longstanding national, constitutional values to embrace newcomers and to reject cross-generational punishment. Through the vote this afternoon, the House has cast aside the 'lame-duck' moniker in favor of bold and progressive assistance to our still-hobbled national economy."

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Copyright 2009 MALDEF — Mexican American Legal Defense and Educational Fund