By: Mariella Roque / Staff Writer

On Sept. 22, the United States Senate met to vote on the National Defense Authorization Act for the Fiscal Year 2011 that was unable to pass because of its attachment to two controversial bills, namely a repeal of the 1993 “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell” military policy and the DREAM Act.

The DREAM Act legislation would allow illegal youth who were brought to the United States at a young age to obtain permanent residence if they are in good academic standing or if they serve in the military.

‘’I think that by not honoring the Dream Act, it is a direct violation of the American dream and about everything that our country stands for,” said political science major Janiel Vargas.

First introduced in 2001, the DREAM act was made top priority for passage by Sen. Richard Durbin of the Democratic Party. Since its inception, the bill has been changed and edited in order to gain enough support to be passed. These changes include specifying the age limit for the recipients and the removal of all things relating to in-state tuition benefits.

“We’re going to vote on the DREAM Act, it’s only a question of when,” said Senate Majority leader Harry Reid during the NDAA Senate session.

During the vote, a press briefing by telephone was held to examine the significance of the DREAM Act for educators across the country.  This briefing included several guest speakers like Arne Duncan, the U.S. secretary of education, Michael Crow, president of Arizona State University and Marielena Hincapié, executive director for the National Immigration Law Center.

“It is no surprise that a common sense law like this one has always been supported both by Democrats and Republicans,” Duncan said.

The DREAM Act has received bipartisan support several times as “has passed twice out of the Senate Judiciary Committee, with bipartisan support and passed the Senate in 2006 with the support of 11 Senate Republicans,” according to Duncan.

The event was called a national day of action called “Realize the DREAM” to encourage the pursuit of helping undocumented students receive legal status.

“[The DREAM Act] keeps youth off the streets and in the classroom where they can learn more about the country they will be a part of,” said Nursing major Nubia Palma.

The exact number of illegal immigrants, as well as children and young adults, is unknown but is estimated by the Department of Homeland Security to be about 10.3 million in 2009.

Hincapié estimates the number of students immediately eligible for the DREAM Act is around 726,000.

“It is appalling that we have allowed the mistreatment of young people to go on in the United States for political gain,” Crow said. “These children are innocent; these children are attempting to move forward with their lives.”

While the DREAM Act continues to be discussed in Congress, activists for the bill held a Vote4Me! Campaign National Conference Call on Sept. 29 in hopes of coordinating efforts to register eligible American voters for the mid-term Nov. 2 election.

This call was organized by Voto Latino, in collaboration with the United We DREAM Network, the Generational Alliance, and the United States Student Association.

Senators from the Student Governing Council at Modesto Maidique Campus also decided to take a step toward passing the bill.

Senators Moses Aluicio of the College of Arts & Sciences, Joanne Myler, of the Honors College and William-Jose Velez, of the College of Engineering sponsored a “Resolution to Encourage the Passage of the DREAM Act” that passed in the SGC-MMC senate unanimously.

“Now that [the resolution] has passed, myself and the other sponsors aim to send it to our representatives in national politics in hopes that it will act to persuade them to support the DREAM Act,” Myler said.

The resolution states that “The Student Government Council Modesto A. Maidique Campus supports the passage of the DREAM Act” because “all young people who are willing to put in the hard work have the right to legally obtain an education.”

“It comes to be a pressing issue, especially at FIU where there are so many immigrants,” Velez said.

Aluicio, who originally initiated the resolution, told Student Media via email that his goal in passing the resolution was “to present it to all of Florida’s Congressional Delegation” and “that the voice of over 40,000 Florida International University Students will bring this important issue to their attention.”