DREAM Act

The Development, Relief, and Education for Alien Minors Act, known as the DREAM Act, is a United States legislative proposal that would grant temporary [|conditional residency], with the right to work, to qualified applicants following illegal immigration to the United States as minors—and, if they later satisfy further qualifications, they would attain permanent residency.
In April 2001, United States senators Dick Durbin and Orrin Hatch first introduced the bill in the Senate as S. 1291, but it did not pass. The proposal has since been reintroduced several times, and approved by a majority in the House and in the Senate, but not by sufficient margins as of 2024.

Requirements

The beneficiaries of the proposed DREAM Act would have to meet the following requirements to qualify:

Not be inadmissible to or deportable from the United States, or be in Temporary Protected Status )
Have proof of having arrived in the United States before age 16, and HR3440, Sec.3).
Have proof of residency in the United States for at least five consecutive years
If a male born in 1960 or later, have registered with the Selective Service
Be between the ages of 12 and 35 at the time of bill enactment
Have graduated from an American high school, obtained a GED, or been admitted to an institution of higher education
Be of good moral character

During the first six years, qualifying people would be granted "conditional" status and would be required to graduate from a two-year community college or complete at least two years towards a four-year degree or serve two years in the US military. After this six-year period, those who meet at least one of these three conditions would be eligible to apply for permanent resident status. During this six-year conditional period, they would not be eligible for federal higher education grants such as Pell grants but they would be able to apply for student loans and work study.
If they have met all of the conditions at the end of the 6-year conditional period, they would be granted permanent residency, which would eventually allow them to become U.S. citizens. It is not known how many of those eligible would go on to complete the further requirements. One organization estimated that only 7,000–13,000 college students nationally can fulfill the further obligations.

For conditional resident status

The individual must:

have proof that they entered the United States before the age of 16 and must have continuously lived in the country for at least 5 years.
have graduated from a United States high school or obtained a GED in the US.
demonstrate good moral character.
pass criminal background checks

After having obtained and held conditional resident status, permanent residency may be granted if the following requirements have been met in a period of six years.

For permanent residency

The individual must:

Have attended an institution of higher learning or served in the United States military for at least two years and if discharged, have received an honorable discharge
Pass another series of background checks
Continue to demonstrate good moral character

If these requirements are not fulfilled the conditional resident will lose their legal status and be subject to deportation.

Background

Members of Congress have introduced several forms of this bill in both the House of Representatives and the Senate. Members in the House passed one such bill on December 8, 2010, by a vote of 216–198. Senators debated a version of the DREAM Act on September 21, 2010. A previous version of the bill, S. 2205, which required 60 votes to gain cloture, failed on a 52–44 vote in 2007, eight votes short of overcoming a filibuster by senators opposed to the bill.
The United States military faced challenges in enlistment, which in 2005 were described as a "crisis", though the economic downturn of 2007–2010 did away with many of the enlistment challenges. Immigrants without a United States Permanent Resident Card are not allowed to enlist. In 2007, several senior officials at the Department of Defense spoke in favor of promising resident status to members of the military as a means of boosting recruitment.
The bill also restores the option for states to determine residency for purposes of higher education benefits by repealing Section 505 of the Illegal Immigration Reform and Immigrant Responsibility Act of 1996 8 U.S. Code § 1623. The majority of states interpret this provision as disqualifying students with undocumented immigration status from certain higher education benefits such as in-state tuition rates. Some states have enacted laws aimed at making unauthorised state residents eligible for in-state tuition rates without violating this IIRIRA provision. Some students paying out-of-state tuition have filed lawsuits in these states, claiming state education officials violated this federal law.

Legislative history

The original version of the DREAM Act was introduced on April 25, 2001, by Representative Luis Gutiérrez, Democrat from Illinois, as the "Immigrant Children's Educational Advancement and Dropout Prevention Act of 2001" H.R. 1918 during the 107th Congress. This bill received 34 cosponsors, and would have allowed undocumented immigrant students to first apply to be protected from deportation and then apply for and receive lawful permanent residency if they met the criteria.
One month later, on May 21, 2001, Gutiérrez's version of the bill was scrapped in favor of a more limited version entitled "Student Adjustment Act of 2001" H.R. 1918, introduced by Representative Chris Cannon, Republican from Utah. This version of the bill lowered age eligibility to 21 years of age and garnered 62 cosponsors. On August 1, 2001, a mirror bill to the "Student Adjustment Act of 2001" was introduced in the Senate by Senator Orrin Hatch, also a Republican from Utah. This legislation, S. 1291, was the first bill given the short title of "Development, Relief, and Education for Alien Minors Act" or "DREAM Act." Since that time the DREAM Act has been introduced in both the Senate and the House at various times.
The text of the bill was placed in various other immigration-related bills, including the Comprehensive Immigration Reform Act of 2006 and the Comprehensive Immigration Reform Act of 2007. With the failure of these comprehensive reform bills, Senator Richard Durbin, Democrat from Illinois, made its passage a top priority for 2007. In September 2007, Durbin filed to place the DREAM Act as an amendment to the 2008 Department of Defense Authorization Bill S. 2919. In light of the criticism, Durbin tabled the amendment in favor of a rewritten DREAM Act amendment to the Defense Bill. In consideration of their opponents, all language regarding in-state tuition was removed from the amendment and an age cap of 30 was put in place for potential beneficiaries. Military leaders embraced the bill, which included the promise of resident status to members of the military, as a means of boosting recruitment.
On October 18, 2007, Durbin, along with Republican co-sponsors Charles Hagel of Nebraska and Richard Lugar of Indiana, introduced the DREAM Act as S. 2205. Although nearly identical to the revised amendment to the Defense Bill, opponents continued to cite previous arguments. To bring the DREAM Act up for debate, a vote was scheduled on October 24 that would require a filibuster-proof count of 60 yes votes, but that failed. Senate opponents cited a variety of reasons for their opposition. Some labeled the DREAM Act as amnesty that would encourage chain migration and further illegal immigration in anticipation of new versions of the DREAM Act. Others stated that the DREAM Act, though worthy legislation, should be enacted only as part of a comprehensive immigration reform.
Senator Kay Bailey Hutchison, who had previously stated that she would oppose consideration of the DREAM Act, announced on the Senate floor that she had expressed reservations to Durbin and he had made a verbal commitment to work with her to make changes that she saw necessary to garner greater Republican support. In response, Durbin announced that the first amendment that would be considered, should debate of the DREAM Act begin, would completely re-write the bill in favor of the language that Hutchison suggested. According to her suggestions, students in the country illegally should be allowed to hold a temporary student visa with a renewable work permit instead of conditional permanent residency. Although 52 Senators voted in favor of considering the DREAM Act, this fell eight votes short of breaking filibuster and the legislation was not considered.

2009

The act was re-introduced in both chambers of Congress on Thursday, March 26, 2009, during the 111th Congress by senators Dick Durbin, Richard Lugar, Harry Reid, Mel Martinez, Patrick Leahy, Joseph Lieberman, Ted Kennedy, and Russ Feingold and U.S. representative Howard Berman. To date, 128 representatives and 39 senators co-sponsored the bill. Under this version of the DREAM Act, immigrants could qualify in part, by meeting the following requirements:

Be between the ages of 12 and 35 at the time the Law is enacted
Arrived in the United States before the age of 16
Resided continuously in the United States for at least 5 consecutive years since the date of their arrival
Graduated from a US high school or obtained a General Education Diploma
Good moral character

In addition to the temporary residency, students who qualified would also be entitled to apply for student loans and work study but would not be eligible for Pell grants. In certain circumstances, the person could lose temporary immigration residency if he or she did not meet the educational or military service requirement within the six-year time period or if they committed any crimes regardless of whether or not they had already been approved for permanent status at the end of their six years. If an individual were convicted of a major crime or drug-related infraction, they would automatically lose the six-year temporary residence status and be immediately subject to deportation.