DREAM Activists open to Rubio’s ‘conservative-Republican alternative’

CNN.com contributor and a nationally syndicated columnist Ruben Navarrette Jr. writes Thursday, “I call the GOP approach to the DREAM Act something else: A common sense solution. It could break a stalemate and improve millions of lives. And it could only be opposed for ugly partisan reasons.” That sentiment is stirring up debate among longtime DREAM Act supporters.

Sen. Marco Rubio, R-Fla., stirred up the immigration debate last week when he announced a proposal to offer a “conservative-Republican alternative” to the DREAM Act.

The DREAM Act, which was first introduced with bipartisan support in Congress 10 years ago, would grant those who entered the U.S. illegally before the age of 16 conditional permanent resident status for a period of six years, after which they would be eligible to become legal permanent residents if they obtain at least an associate-level college degree or serve in the military for two years.

“While [Rubio's proposal] is not perfect — and no piece of legislation is — it is better than nothing, which is all the critics have been able to offer, even when Democrats controlled both houses of Congress and the White House,” Navarrete writes.

The “Republican plan would give undocumented students a path to legal status in exchange for going to college or joining the military,” but “unlike the earlier version, it would not include a path to citizenship,” Navarrete adds.

Mohammad Abdollahi of DREAM Activist writes to The Florida Independent that “as an organization we are likely to support Rubio and his efforts and, at the end of the day, need some form of relief for our communities and if this is the only thing that stands the chance of passing then we will have to support it. Just like Navarette we firmly blame Democrats for the failure of the traditional version of dream. They had the opportunity to pass it numerous times but instead choose to milk it a bit more for political gain.”

[B]“Democrats blame Republicans for playing games, but in reality it is the Democrats who are pushing the traditional version of DREAM with such hype during an election year when we all know it won’t pass,” Abdollahi adds.[/b]

Prerna Lal of DREAM Activist writes Thursday: “I realize that the bill is a careful political calculation from the GOP to try to win back some Latino support,” and “I also understand that this entire charade ultimately has to do with the fact that the GOP does not want to grant citizenship to 12 million undocumented immigrants.”

Lal adds: “The GOP is driven by its anti-immigrant and white supremacist fringe, the Democrats are yet to develop a moral compass on immigrant rights but take us for granted nonetheless, our advocates in the non-profit industrial complex keep earning a paycheck due to stalemate on the issue, and undocumented youth continue to serve as mere political football to be tossed from side to side.”

If unveiled, Rubio’s proposal might find support among DREAM Act-eligible youth, but not from “attrition through enforcement” supporters, including Mitt Romney and his immigration advisor Kris Kobach, as well as immigration restrictionists who this week called it “another variation on amnesty.

http://floridaindependent.com/74592/...ct-marco-rubio


More dreamers who are rational. :- )

I hope Democrats read pieces like these.

Let this year be the year that we finally get papers.

Just make sure they pass it this year.. Make sure they dont take us hostage.. Like having this new dream act but the only way for them to pass it is for them to have the votes..

I knew it, Reid is using us as political gain for the Democrats. To the hell, like it's gonna pass this year. He claims he's going to put it up for vote this year - this claim is just to give the Dems a boost during this election year. They need to fkin start to REALLY help us. Only a handful of the people in the congress like Durbin truly support us, the others only see this as a political tool.

That is why it is vital that we get as much as media attention in order to let Reid know that what he plans to do is wrong if the Rubio bill ends up being reasonable and fair. Reid thinks that we are already siding with the Democrats. Uh ugh, I don't think so. We want relief--not partisan victories. Rubio thus far has a good idea.

It is definately getting exciting.

It really is getting exciting, I just hope for once that partisanship gets thrown behind. But I doubt media attention would even force the Dems to reconsider there positions. When even Durbin reacts off the cuff to an unwritten bill that shows you the liberal oriented media has already pegged this bill an enemy and a target, and why wouldn't they? Most Latinos would obviously fit in well with the Republican's social conservative platform nicely, Dems need to legalize the vast undocumented population to still stake a claim. And I know this is unpopular but that is why added with the crazed tea party wing of the repubs is why this bill will fail. It's one huge publicity stunt, something I just don't appreciate. Look to 2013-2014, but I guess we'll just wait and see.

We need to get our voice across to the Democrats that we agree with things like Rubio's bill. We dont care about their argument that it is a "lite version." - FKIN BS. As long as we are getting legalized, that's all it matters! To all those hyper rallyers, now's the time to start petitioning and holding your strikes to let the Dems know about this. Where's that energy gone that was displayed last year like hunger strikes? Petitioning and meetings are perfectly fine and work better. NOW'S THE TIME, THIS FKIN BS IS AS VITAL AS HELL. Dont let the winds calm down when this year ends, pick it up and accomplish this sh*t before the winds lose their air.

I feel like I'm really getting on your case man, but look at the facts. We haven't even seen Rubio's bill and you are already supporting it like it will make all our problems go away. You don't even know how it will affect you yet. I realize you are still in high school and anything that happens before you graduate will make your life better, but look at the big picture here. Can you afford school on your own? you don't have to pay now, but most of us do and we struggle to pay community college tuition let alone University rates. This bill hasn't promised anything like letting us work or letting us drive so relax your hate on Reid. From Reid's perspective he wants the original DREAM act to pass (or go up for vote) and not the alternative because what is the point of the DREAM act if the alternative passes first? Note I said original DREAM act not democratic DREAM act because it isn't. It was bi partisan. You have to think about stuff more man. We can't just settle for something temporary. They are just using "duct tape" to fix the problem by giving us visa, again we don't know what they will entitle us to, but still they don't seem promising when compared to what a non-immigrant visa grants presently.

And do you really think they are gonna customize a visa just for us? think again. What has been done to benefit us? I can only think of one thing and that is what the Obama administration did by negating deportation proceedings for people like us. I'm not including the state dream acts because they do not concern the federal politics.

I am non- partisan. like I said before and all of us have to be because we can't vote. In the early stages of the U.S. George Washington said that we should never do a few things because they will ruin America. One of those things was create political parties (warning I'm going off of what I heard in my college history class earlier this week, I may not be remembering it all correctly, so its not a 100% accurate, but I hope you get what I'm saying). Do you understand? The government is already divided, by us choosing a side we divide ourselves further, a sub division if you will. We all have to realize the better DREAM act is the original, and fighting for it until it passes is what we should do, but if it fails again then we have the alternative to fall back on. See my reasoning? I do think we need to start more rallys and petitions now so everyone understands our perspectives, but please don't start a rally for an alternative you haven't even seen. You are exercising ignorance, and that is the one thing we are fighting against. The ignorance of Americans towards us young people who had no choice, and we want a chance to earn citizenship. If we piss away that chance its on us, but we just want a chance. So far the alternative looks like an unfair chance (going by what I've read in speculative articles). A chance nonetheless which is why it should be our back up plan.