Where were you in December, Senator?
Weeks after a hunger strike orchestrated by college students in San Antonio failed to sway her vote on the DREAM Act, Sen. Kay Bailey Hutchison told business leaders Tuesday that she now would work to pass a lesser version of the highly contentious bill, one that would not provide illegal immigrants a path to citizenship.
Hutchison, R-Texas, told the San Antonio group that she could not support legislation that includes “amnesty” provisions of citizenship, which was included in the DREAM Act. Instead, she said, she wants a bill that would protect foreign-born students and those who serve in the military from being deported — but would not want them to receive automatic citizenship here.
“To me, it is a clear-cut issue that we should not deport young people who have been educated in our school, who many times have a college education, who we encourage to go to college,” Hutchison said.
It’s not clear from the story what exactly KBH’s objections are, or what modifications to the DREAM Act, which had already been significantly modified in an ultimately unsuccessful attempt to win the likes of KBH in December, would be acceptable to her. Perhaps if she had engaged those who wanted to discuss the matter with her instead of hiding under her desk, we’d have a better idea of what it is she wants. (Not that it’s ever easy to know what she wants, but that’s a whole ‘nother story.) The whole point of the DREAM Act is to give people who were brought to this country illegally as children and who finished college or served in the military a chance to apply for citizenship, because as Mike Huckabee once said, we’re better off as a country allowing them to become productive taxpaying citizens than relegating them to a life of menial labor. I guess we’ll see what she finds objectionable soon enough. Not that a KBH-approved bill will get anywhere in a Republican-majority House, of course. Should have voted Yes when you had the chance, Senator. See here and here for more.
“but would not want them to receive automatic citizenship here.”
It is obvious that KBH did not read the bill.