Senate kills DREAM Act bill aiding citizenship for illegal immigrants' children

dream-act-protesters.JPGView full sizeCollege student Jorge Herrera, 18, center, of Carson, Calif., rallies with students and DREAM Act supporters in Los Angeles Saturday. The DREAM Act, which failed to move on in the Senate, would have given provisional legal status to illegal immigrants brought to the country as children.

William Douglas




Five Democratic senators -- Mark Pryor of Arkansas, Kay Hagan of North Carolina, Ben Nelson of Nebraska and Jon Tester and Max Baucus of Montana -- sided with Republicans. Sen. Joe Manchin, Democrat of West Virginia, announced his opposition to the bill but missed the vote.



Opponents of a comprehensive immigration overhaul rejoiced over the defeat of a measure that they considered an "amnesty" bill that rewarded bad behavior and a stalking horse for a liberalization of U.S. immigration laws.

Sen. George Voinovich of Ohio said he voted against the bill because he believes "we need comprehensive immigration reform and not piecemeal attempts at reform."

Under the DREAM Act, illegal immigrants younger than 30, who entered the United States before age 16, lived here for five years without committing any serious crimes, graduated from high school and attended college or joined the military, would have been eligible for legal residency after meeting other criteria.


However, the Federation for American Immigration Reform, which opposed the DREAM Act, estimated that it would have benefited 2.1 million illegal immigrants.