Hey guys here is the email I received today about summing up what went down in the conference last week. READ IT CAREFULLY. WE HAVE LESS THAN TWO MONTHS TO WORK TOWARDS PASSING THE DREAM ACT. Otherwise it'll be put off until next year, and we will have to start ALL OVER AGAIN. Forward this blog to all your friends, spread the word, help pass the Dream Act!
Here are the notes of what we talked about during our call last week:
CIR and DREAM Act Update: Mark Silverman - Director of Immigration Policy at the Immigrant Legal Resource Center (ILRC).
Given that this is an election year the timeline to pass any immigration reform bill is shorter than in past years. We essentially have until the end of the school year (June) to pass the DREAM Act and/or CIR.
Sen. Schumer and Sen. Graham are yet to produce a bill in the Senate, which makes it even more difficult to pass Immigration Reform this year. However, the DREAM Act was introduced in both the House and the Senate last year and has large bi-partisan support, which puts it ahead of any CIR bill yet to be introduced in the Senate.
The Reform Immigration for America Campaign continues to push for an immigration reform bill, but even Rich Stolz - Campign manager for RI4A- said that “by May 1st we’ll be able to assess if the President and Schumer are serious, or if we’re simply being strung along. “ May 1st is around the corner and we’re running out of time. You can find the letter in its entirety here: http://www.dreamactivist.org/cir-announces-1st-deadline/
We continue to get more co-sponsors, which is a good sign. Here’s a very simple timeline I’ve put together:
Timeline
May - June: We need to push for the DREAM Act to move as a stand alone bill and pass it. We have until the end of June.
July- Confirmation Hearings. Justice John Paul Stevens is retiring and Pres. Obama will need to choose someone to fill his sit. July has already been designated for confirmation hearings and there will be no time for anything else.
Aug - Congress will be in recess.
Sept - Nov – Campaigning and Elections - This is a congressional election year and Congress will not be touching any controversial issues, so immigration reform and DREAM Act are out of the question during this time.
Nov - Jan - Lame Duck session. Some argue that there's still a chance during this period, but it will REALLY be pushing it. There's no guarantee that anything can be done during this time. The bill technically dies in January, but if we can't pass it by June then I just don't know about the lame duck session.
What does this mean? Simply put, unless we pass the DREAM Act before June, all the work we've done, all the lobbying, the teach-ins, the graduations, rallies, marches, co-sponsors, letters from university presidents, city council resolutions, etc, etc, etc ALL of that will be useless next year. We will have to do ALL of that again next time the DREAM Act is introduced. What's going to happen to all our friends who are fighting deportations? I don't know...they might be deported. Don’t give up though, we can still pass the DREAM Act. But we need you all to speak out, to demand that those who make decisions in Washington DC let the youth dream!
And WE CANNOT FORGET about the very great day that is getting near.....
May 1st in LA: "Marching for Our Dreams”-
Join us during May 1st and march with the Immigrant Youth Contingency of Los Angeles.
Date: Saturday, May 1, 2010
Time: 9:30am - 4:00pm
Location: corner of Olympic and Main St. by the US Post Office.
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