Burning Atlanta

GOOD!!! There's no doubt that the whiners and pro-amnesty weasels will continue to push amnesties in any and every form. And, as we know, "What about the children" is the last bastion argument of every bleeding-heart liberal.

NO AMNESTIES, of any kind. NOT NOW.

WASHINGTON — The hope for immediate Senate action on the DREAM Act, which would grant legal status to hundreds of thousands of young illegal immigrants, faded Tuesday as the measure's chief Senate sponsor acknowledged he was having difficulty surmounting Republican opposition.

Sen. Dick Durbin, D-Ill., has been seeking to attach the DREAM Act to the defense authorization bill pending in the Senate. But in an interview Tuesday, he said the DREAM Act isn't among the items on the table as Republican and Democratic leaders discuss ways to quickly wrap up debate on the defense bill.

"We haven't given up completely, but the options on this bill are limited,'' Durbin said.

The DREAM Act would allow illegal immigrants who entered the U.S. before the age of 16, and have lived here at least five years, to receive conditional legal status if they have graduated from high school and have a clean record. After six years, they could become permanent legal residents if they serve in the U.S. military for at least two years or complete at least two years of college. As with most green card holders, they could apply for citizenship after five years.

The non-partisan Migration Policy Institute estimates slightly more than 1 million high school graduates and children still in school could gain legal status under the legislation. See, this is retroactive and will amnesty a lot more than those "poor, hard working, teenagers" that are in school. Also, it makes them eligible for instate tuition rates. There's NOTHING to prevent an illegal from going to college unless they get deported.

"We will try to block it," said Sen. Trent Lott, R-Miss. I don't get that. Lott and others were big time supporters of the last amnesty attempt but don't support this one?

Some Senate Republicans, including Texans Kay Bailey Hutchison and John Cornyn, object to the immigration measure being brought up on a defense bill.

"Putting extraneous things on this bill isn't helpful," Hutchison said.

Other Republicans aren't ready to revisit an immigration debate that imploded in June when the Senate scuttled a sweeping overhaul endorsed by the White House that would have given most illegal immigrants a chance for legal status.

"People, I think, want to let the immigration thing cool off a bit before we jump back in," said Sen. Jeff Sessions, an Alabama Republican who helped derail the comprehensive immigration bill. Cool off? It's NOT getting cooler. More and more Americans are becoming tuned in and they're pissed.

Josh Bernstein, federal policy director for the National Immigration Law Center, predicted DREAM Act supporters eventually will prevail.

"The politics is right and the commitment is there," Bernstein said. "We're not giving up." Yeah, I know theyr'e not going away or giving up. But, ahh, neither am I.