Recently, the DREAM Act, which would’ve given permanent residency to illegal immigrants who complete two year in the military or at a four-year university, was defeated in the Senate. The bill was opposed by Republicans and conservative Democrats. Rejecting the bill goes against some fundamental conservative beliefs, and is a good representation of the hypocrisy and political pandering today’s GOP has stooped to.

Illegal immigrants have long been the subject of intense national debate because some perceive that they are a drain on the taxpayers through the use of government services and welfare. However, the DREAM Act seeks to provide help to those immigrants that are least likely to have a detrimental effect to a government’s balance sheet. Those that join the military or attend college are unlikely to become welfare recipients and take taxpayer money. Rather, we can expect them to earn a steady income in the future, thereby contributing taxes to the government system.

Another popular conservative perception of illegal immigrants is that they immigrate to “take our jobs” and deprive American citizens of their incomes and livelihoods. However, opposition to the bill on that ground would be misguided. While it’s true that the decision by immigrant adults to move to American does mean more competitors in an already crowded labor market, is it fair to punish their children for it? The DREAM Act states that only those who illegally immigrated as minors are eligible for residency benefits. Therefore, punishing the children for the perceived “sins” of their parents seems quite draconian to me. If we’re going to do that, let’s segregate whites into inferior facilities and schools- their parents and grandparents did the same to minorities, so they share the blame!

The most damning part of rejecting the DREAM Act is that it flies in the face of the whole “American Dream”/individual determinism spiel that conservatives like to cite when arguing against social benefits. As the theory goes, anyone here that works hard and honestly can make a living in America. However, by opposing the DREAM Act, conservatives are permanently subjugating illegal immigrant children to second class citizen alien status- not allowed to participate in and contribute to America’s democracy as citizens. At its worst, the opposition to the DREAM Act can be construed as mass disenfranchisement on a scale not seen since the segregationist era.

Beyond the idealist arguments, not passing this bill has very tangible and harmful effects on society. It will be a negative deterrent against college attainment by illegal immigrant children, making them more likely to be welfare recipients then taxpaying professionals and further damaging America’s finances. Secondly, the defeat will deprive America’s economy of badly needed educated labor- studies consistently show that the need for workers with college and master’s degrees will skyrocket in the next few decades, and the DREAM Act would’ve contributed to filling that demand. Lastly, it will deprive the military of new recruits at a time where we are fighting two unpopular wars and are struggling to fill the need for soldiers.
So why did Republicans oppose this bill? As is often the case with them these days, it serves their political purposes for their War for the White House in 2012. Defeating the bill galvanizes their constituents, many who would rather see all illegal immigrants sent back to Mexico for the narcotraffickers’ drive-by target practice. In addition, as most illegal immigrants are Latinos that vote overwhelmingly Democratic, the DREAM act would’ve provided fresh votes for Democrats, thereby tipping the election scales against the Republicans- considering that some conservative lawmakers have advocated changing constitutional naturalization laws so that immigrants born in America are not automatically granted citizenship, it’s a possible motive. These are admittedly extremely cynical analyses of Republican intent, but if voting against the act does not fit their ideological standpoint, the only conclusion is that it fits their political goals.

One sad symbol of modern Republicanism is one of their longtime icons, Sen. John McCain. After his defeat to Obama in 2008, he has veered sharply to the right in an effort for reelection. He has led the effort against illegal immigration reform that he once championed. It’s sad to see that, like McCain, Republicans have taken to desperately pandering to the voters’ worst natures for votes at the expense of sensible policy.


(Photo: Omar Omar)