10:10 AM
CAUSA Communications Department
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
December 18, 2010
Contact:
Francisco Lopez, Executive Director: (503) 269-5694
Erik Sorensen, Communications Director: (503) 488-0263
Oregon Immigrant Rights Coalition vows to continue advancing the movement and building power
Washington, D.C.--Today the U.S. Senate failed to pass the DREAM Act. A motion to move debate further on Development, Relief and Education for Alien Minors (DREAM) Act (H.R. 5281) failed with a vote of 55 in favor and 41 opposed. 60 votes were needed to end cloture.
"CAUSA expresses it's disappointed in the Senate for failing to pass legislation that would have made it possible for children of undocumented immigrants who have grown up in the United States to be able to realize the American Dream", said Francisco Lopez, CAUSA's Executive Director. "For far too long, these children have lived in uncertainty of their own future. While we applaud those who voted in favor of the legislation including Senator Wyden and Senator Merkley, the failure of the Senate to pass the DREAM Act today continues that uncertainty."
"Today may have been a legislative setback, however it was not a defeat for our movement," added Lopez. "We won a majority of votes in both the House and the Senate, but because of a Republican filibuster we needed 60 votes to pass DREAM and we fell short."
Over the last month, more than 200,000 calls went into Congress in support of the DREAM Act. CAUSA mobilized our supporters and allies to contact their Representatives and Senators. In the end, there were not enough Senators with courage and compassion to pass the crucial legislation.
"Now that the federal government has failed to address the future of those immigrant youth whose lives are still in limbo, CAUSA will work at the state level to pass Tuition Equity legislation," said Lopez.
He added, "We will also work with our supporters and allies to continue to grow our movement both in state and nationally. We will build on our win in the U.S. House and continue working with senators and representatives who will place the well-being of our families, communities and country ahead of petty politics. Because building a movement and the power to win humane and just policy is a long term task, it is not a matter of if we win, but a matter of when."
CAUSA, Oregon's Immigrant Rights Coalition, is the largest Latino and Latina civil and human rights and advocacy organization in the Pacific Northwest. We work to defend and advance immigrant rights through coordination with local, state, and national coalitions and allies. For more information, visit www.causaoregon.org
Posted in: DREAM ACT,Press Release,U.S. Senate
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