Sen. Dick Durbin (D-Ill.) - noting that a mammoth funding bill currently being debated by the chamber doesn't include a fix for Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) recipients - asked for unanimous consent to pass the DREAM Act.
"We have this 2000 page bill which addresses every subject imaginable, but doesn't address the looming deadline that we face in America where [we're] one court decision away from hundreds of thousands of young people being deported," he said.
Under a consent request, any one senator can block a bill from being passed. Durbin hinted that he expected to be stymied saying "I'm going to be making a unanimous consent request when this is over. I think I know how it will end."
The Development, Relief and Education for Alien Minors Act, or DREAM Act, would grant a pathway to citizenship for undocumented immigrants brought into the country illegally as children as long as they meet certain requirements.
But Sen. Thom Tillis (R-N.C.) objected to Durbin's request. Instead, Tillis asked him to modify his request so that the Senate could instead pass a bill that largely aligns with the White House's framework.
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