Reflect and regroup

Here is my perspective:

What happened

Here’s what really happened on Saturday: laws didn’t change. Nobody destroyed your dreams. Nobody said that you will never be recognized. Nobody claimed, “this is it, your fight is over.” This is as far as the Dream Act has ever been taken. And you took it here.

How to make sense of it

There is no “due by” date on the Dream Act. You can either leave the battle in the hands of the willing and hope that the law will arrive in time, or you can join the ranks and fight.

If your “due by” date is graduation, I’m here to tell you that even if we make that date, life will remain full of obstacles. The path that you face is difficult, but so is the path faced by your “legal” peers. Fortunately, our problem, like others, can be fixed with applied effort and persistence.

A Republican congress isn’t the end

Look at the facts: In 2007, we witnessed debate on comprehensive immigration reform and a cloture vote on the Dream Act, with a split Senate and a Democratic House, backed by Pres. Bush. IIRIRA of 1996 was the work of a fully Republican congress, backed by a Pres. Clinton. The so-called “un-American liberal amnesty death-bill of 1986” that we hear so much about was the work of a Republican Senate and a Democratic House, backed by Pres. Reagan.

We fight for truth and justice, not red or blue. I, for one, don’t care which party is in control. Both have proven themselves equality inadequate.

This is not the end, it is a new chapter. It is time to reflect and regroup.

I'm with you Nick, but I wonder how long can some of us wait.

I'm 29, and every day I question myself as to how long I am willing to wait. How long is enough? at 30, 35, 40.

I don't know.

Group Hug!

Could there be a slim chance republicans purposely blocked the bill, only to bring it up again when they are the majority, so they can take credit for it???

Could not agree more with you, Nick. Common guys, let's take time to reflect .

That can be said about any bill they're filibustering. The repubs are only stalling legislation in these final weeks because they'll get to play by their terms come Jan while being able to brag about pushing forward legislation. Voters are so easy to scam.

Many of you guys are thinking that the DREAM Act may not come up for the next two years, because its not in the plan for the newly elected tea party movement. However, it was because of our unity and and dedication to push for the DREAM Act that it even made it as a top priority this year.

The DREAM Act did not appear only once, it appeared as an amendments in a defense bill, there were several versions that came up trying to give a reason for republicans to support the DREAM Act, there were phone conferences with senators and representatives, we made the DREAM Act a question to ask for those that were going to be elected for senate and representative positions.

This is not over by a long shot, many of us are no longer afraid to share our stories or to call a senator or a representative and let them know who we are, and that is a major improvement over past years.

Truer words could not have been spoken.

Note that both parties use the fillibuster and both point fingers doing it. Here's a shallow example: 104th fully republican congress and the Google news search for the corresponding time period.

Point being, this is their game to play. We have a bill to pass.