Rep. Donald E. Young (R-AK)
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Don Young voted against the DREAM Act in December 2010 when it came up for a vote in the House of Representatives.
http://politics.nytimes.com/congress/votes/111/house/2/625
-- Since the DREAM Act has never been up for vote in the House, any Representative's vote is unclear. However, research can be done regarding the representative's voting record on other immigration issues to determine their primary concerns.
Rep. Don Young's focus with regard to immigration is primarily national security and (American) job security.
I've based this assessment on the website below, including brief summaries of some of his immigration legislative support.
From: http://donyoung.house.gov/Issues/Issue/?IssueID=5014.
Rep. Don Young has supported bills which would require employers to check "work status" of new hires, require people applying for housing assistance to show proof of citizenship, and would prevent undocumented workers from receiving Social Security benefits or credit for taxes paid "while using a fraudulent Social Security number." Rep. Don Young has also supported legislation requiring anyone suspected of human trafficking to be checked against terrorist watch lists.
The DREAM Act would not apply to young people with criminal records. Also, it would not immediately impact jobs since these young people would be going to college/military/trade school, and not be competing for jobs.
The best "in" as I see it with Rep. Young comes from the last line on his web page on immigration:
"The United States offers many foreign nationals a chance to improve their lives, however, I will continue to only support methods which promote the legal gain of American jobs and citizenship."
The DREAM Act does exactly this. The rationale can be fleshed out later, but I believe we can use Rep. Young and his constituent's concerns to help convince him to support the DREAM Act.
7/14/2010 I believe that Don Young is unlikely to support the DREAM act at this time. I base this opinion on the response I received from Don Young to a constituent letter I sent in support of the DREAM act which stated, in part,
As a former educator, I place a large amount of value in encouraging secondary education for all Alaskan and American youth. Our education system is one reason why I believe so many foreign students immigrate to the United States every year. However, our school systems' funds are constantly being stretched thin, without considering the additional burden of illegal aliens. *Those funds are best used educating legal American citizens. *
