The Christian Alert

Senator Harry Reid (D-NV), the Senate Majority Leader, is planning for a vote on what is known as the DREAM Act sometime during the lame duck session. If passed and enacted into law amnesty would be offered to the children of illegal immigrants under the age of 16 and remained for at least five years to gain legal residency if they attend college or serve in the military. Democrats in the Senate have foisted four different versions of the bill on the legislative calendar, which all offer variations on the same amnesty theme: Because they arrived here through "no fault of their own," illegal alien children deserve federal education access and benefits, plus a conditional pass from deportation and a special path toward green cards and U.S. citizenship for themselves and unlimited relatives. In a last-ditch attempt to win over fence-sitters, DREAM Act sponsors have tinkered with eligibility requirements. But supporters know that the words on bill pages -- which hardly anyone will read before voting -- don't matter. Built into the proposals are broad "public interest" waiver powers for the illegal immigration-friendly Department of Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano. Meanwhile, the way illegal alien students on college campuses across the country tell it, America is a cruel, selfish and racist nation that has never given them or their families a break. Yet despite their bottomless grievances, they're not going anywhere. And despite their gripes about being forced "into the shadows," they've been out in the open protesting at media-driven hunger strikes and flooding the airwaves demanding passage of the so-called DREAM Act. This bailout plan would benefit an estimated 2.1 million illegal aliens at an estimated cost of up to $20 billion. At a time of nearly double-digit unemployment and drastic higher education cutbacks, a $20 billion special education preference package for up to 2.1 million illegal aliens is not and should not be a priority in Washington. It certainly isn't in the rest of America. And it certainly shouldn't be a priority for federal immigration and homeland security officials, who have a 400,000 deportation fugitives problem, a three-year naturalization application backlog and borders that remain in chaos.