The E in DREAM

National Review ^ | December 10, Heather Mac Donald | Heather Mac Donald

[moonshinner_09]

While Sen. Harry Reid regroups for another shot at passing the DREAM Act next week, it’s worth reviewing the details of this little-analyzed law. The MSM inevitably presents the law as a way for successful young illegal aliens who are living the American dream by pursuing a college degree to fully join the mainstream. In fact, the DREAM Act is written to maximize the number of illegal aliens who are shielded from immigration enforcement, period. Its educational and character trappings are so minimal as to be pretextual.

Every illegal alien who applies for what is known as “conditional legal status” is immunized from any fear of deportation for ten years. The threshold for qualifying for conditional legal status is extraordinarily lax. An illegal alien can have a criminal record and still qualify, as long as the time served for an aggregate of three non-felony offenses is under 90 days. (The current version of the bill, S. 3992, is a masterpiece of legalistic obfuscation on this count.) In Los Angeles (and undoubtedly elsewhere), jail overcrowding (significantly due to illegal-alien criminals) is such that prosecutors and courts routinely plea-bargain felonies down to misdemeanors and sentence property crimes and even some violent offenses to time served in jail while awaiting a plea bargain. Thus, one can have quite a history of offenses without crossing the DREAM Act threshold for criminal ineligibility. Drunk drivers and drug dealers could also qualify for conditional legal status, so long as they have routinely pled down.

[moonshinner_09]

I admire Heather Mac Donald she writes a story that is direct and straight to the point. She writes about how things really are and does not pad her stories, with a lot of what if's. We could use her in Washington.

[Cletus.D.Yokel]

The dirty little secret not being told about “amnesty” is that the illegals here now have no incentive to expose themselves as illegal immigrants. They won’t register or self-identify.

When all is said and done, a mere handful of the activist illigals will self-identify while millions will remain “hidden”. Then what?

The US-communists and their abettors - the MSM - will point to the small number and talk about how the conservatives “hyped” the problem.

[floridavoter2]

Does anyone know if this passes can the new congress refuse to fund it?

[the invisib1e hand]

I actually heard a comedian use this line on some NPR radio show (the bit was called, "News that Isn't":

Dream act will give Obama citizenship...

It got a good laugh, including one from me.

[UCFRoadWarrior]

Does anyone know if this passes can the new congress refuse to fund it?

---

Congress can refuse to fund anything, if they wanted to.

Even if the DREAM Act passes the Senate...they still will not have enough time to conference it between the House and Senate...to send to Obama to sign. It will not be until after the break. Then the GOP led House can vote again to repeal DREAM Act Amnesty

[HiJinx]

Ping!

[floridavoter2]

Thanks for the reply. That is definitely good news!

[Mike Darancette]

Taking education dollars Americans don’t want.

[Vigilanteman]

The mindset of these people who love the illegal alien constituency more than the legal residents and citizens they are sworn to protect was on display way back when G.W.Bush brought up amnesty the first time.

Here are the Senators who voted against the Cornyn amendment , which would have established a permanent bar for gang members, terrorists, and other criminals looking to snag a shamnesty visa. Republicans underlined:

Kyl's vote was a parliamentary maneuver so he would be able to reintroduce it at a later date. Every other vote was to give a pass to the worst illegal alien criminals.

[Maverick68]

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