Dream Act Dies in Senate

Note: This measure may not be as dead as it says below. Sen. Dick Durbin (D-IL) has vowed to bring up the DREAM Act as a stand alone bill next week in the Senate. Blocking it is a matter of survival for the GOP. If passed, it would add millions of Democrat voters to those eligible to vote -- which is also why the Donks will never give up trying to pass it

A measure called the Dream Act that would have given some illegal immigrants a path to citizenship died Tuesday in the U.S. Senate.

It would have given illegal immigrants who came here before they turned 16, a chance to become citizens if they meet certain conditions.

They'd have to graduate high school, either be a college student in good standing, or serve in the U.S. military. Then once that person either received the college diploma or finished their tour of duty, they would be granted permanent residency. After that, the person could become a U.S. citizen.

A Republican filibuster killed it in the senate, along with the Democrats' effort to repeal 'Don't Ask, Don't Tell' for the military. The Dream Act has the support of the Defense Department, retired General Colin Powell, and politicians on both sides of the aisle. Sponsors of the immigration reform measure are expected to re-introduce it in the fall.

But, should they? Now while the measure has bipartisan support in the Senate. Some are calling this "Back Door Amnesty."

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British government faces high court battle over cap on immigration

A high court battle is to be launched tomorrow that threatens to deliver a fresh body-blow to the government's already troubled plans to introduce a cap on immigration.

A judicial review claim on behalf of the Joint Council for the Welfare of Immigrants and a number of small businesses asks judges to declare the government's temporary cap on migrants – imposed on 28 June – unlawful because ministers sidestepped proper parliamentary approval.

The cap came in to force to prevent a "surge in applications" from skilled migrants from outside Europe. It was brought in as an interim measure while the cabinet thrashes out an agreement over how flexible the permanent cap should be when it is introduced next year.

The Liberal Democrat business secretary, Vince Cable, said this week that he was optimistic of winning the battle with his Conservative cabinet colleagues after he publicly complained that the temporary cap had done "a lot of damage to British industry". The cap is designed to scale back annual net migration to Britain from the "hundreds of thousands to the tens of thousands".

This summer the court of appeal ruled that the home secretary acted unlawfully when changes were made to the points-based immigration system without proper parliamentary approval. Immigration lawyers believe this means ministers are in deep legal water over the temporary cap.

Home Office ministers announced their intention to introduce the temporary cap to parliament, but did not detail how it would operate or the level of the limit on skilled and highly skilled migrants until it came into force. Details were then posted on the Home Office website but not presented to parliament.

The Home Office is battling to keep the politically sensitive case out of the court. But the immigration lawyers involved expect it to be heard by the judges within the next few weeks.

The immigration minister, Damian Green, said: "We will rigorously defend this challenge and are confident of success. The government has been clear, we will introduce our permanent annual limit on economic migrants from outside the EU from April 2011.

"While we decide how the annual limit should operate it is imperative that we have interim measures in place to avoid a rush of applications from migrants before the new rules take effect.

"We are fully committed to reduce the level of net migration back down to the levels of the 1990s: tens of thousands each year, not hundreds of thousands. Introducing a limit on migrants from outside Europe coming here to work is just one of the ways we intend to achieve this."

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