Andorra Bruno
Specialist in Immigration Policy
Supporters of comprehensive immigration reform have urged the President and Congress to pursue reform legislation. While prospects for comprehensive reform—especially for proposals including large-scale legalization of unauthorized aliens—may have dimmed since the November 2010 elections, some supporters are advocating passage of more limited legislation to address the status of unauthorized alien students. Such legislation is commonly referred to as the “DREAM Act.”
Unauthorized aliens in the United States are able to receive free public education through high school. They may experience difficulty obtaining higher education, however, for several reasons. Among these reasons is a provision enacted in 1996 that prohibits states from granting unauthorized aliens certain postsecondary educational benefits on the basis of state residence, unless equal benefits are made available to all U.S. citizens. This prohibition is commonly understood to apply to the granting of “in-state” residency status for tuition purposes. Unauthorized alien students also are not eligible for federal student financial aid. More broadly, as unauthorized aliens, they are not legally allowed to work and are subject to being removed from the country.
Multiple DREAM Act bills have been introduced in recent Congresses to address the unauthorized student population. Most have proposed a two-prong approach of repealing the 1996 provision and enabling some unauthorized alien students to become U.S. legal permanent residents (LPRs) through an immigration procedure known as cancellation of removal. While there are other options for dealing with this population, this report deals exclusively with the DREAM Act approach in light of the considerable congressional interest in it.
In the 111th Congress, the House approved DREAM Act language as part of an unrelated bill, the Removal Clarification Act of 2010 (H.R. 5281). However, the Senate failed, on a 55-41 vote, to invoke cloture on a motion to agree to the House-passed DREAM Act amendment and the bill died at the end of the Congress. The House-approved language was the same as that in the standalone Development, Relief, and Education for Alien Minors (DREAM) Act of 2010 (H.R. 6497) and differed in key respects from earlier versions of the DREAM Act.
It is unclear whether the 112th Congress will take up DREAM Act legislation.
Date of Report: March 22, 2011
Number of Pages: 23
Order Number: RL33863
Price: $29.95
Follow us on TWITTER at http://www.twitter.com/alertsPHP or #CRSreports
Document available via e-mail as a pdf file or in paper form.
To order, e-mail Penny Hill Press or call us at 301-253-0881. Provide a Visa, MasterCard, American Express, or Discover card number, expiration date, and name on the card. Indicate whether you want e-mail or postal delivery. Phone orders are preferred and receive priority processing.
Specialist in Immigration Policy
Supporters of comprehensive immigration reform have urged the President and Congress to pursue reform legislation. While prospects for comprehensive reform—especially for proposals including large-scale legalization of unauthorized aliens—may have dimmed since the November 2010 elections, some supporters are advocating passage of more limited legislation to address the status of unauthorized alien students. Such legislation is commonly referred to as the “DREAM Act.”
Unauthorized aliens in the United States are able to receive free public education through high school. They may experience difficulty obtaining higher education, however, for several reasons. Among these reasons is a provision enacted in 1996 that prohibits states from granting unauthorized aliens certain postsecondary educational benefits on the basis of state residence, unless equal benefits are made available to all U.S. citizens. This prohibition is commonly understood to apply to the granting of “in-state” residency status for tuition purposes. Unauthorized alien students also are not eligible for federal student financial aid. More broadly, as unauthorized aliens, they are not legally allowed to work and are subject to being removed from the country.
Multiple DREAM Act bills have been introduced in recent Congresses to address the unauthorized student population. Most have proposed a two-prong approach of repealing the 1996 provision and enabling some unauthorized alien students to become U.S. legal permanent residents (LPRs) through an immigration procedure known as cancellation of removal. While there are other options for dealing with this population, this report deals exclusively with the DREAM Act approach in light of the considerable congressional interest in it.
In the 111th Congress, the House approved DREAM Act language as part of an unrelated bill, the Removal Clarification Act of 2010 (H.R. 5281). However, the Senate failed, on a 55-41 vote, to invoke cloture on a motion to agree to the House-passed DREAM Act amendment and the bill died at the end of the Congress. The House-approved language was the same as that in the standalone Development, Relief, and Education for Alien Minors (DREAM) Act of 2010 (H.R. 6497) and differed in key respects from earlier versions of the DREAM Act.
It is unclear whether the 112th Congress will take up DREAM Act legislation.
Date of Report: March 22, 2011
Number of Pages: 23
Order Number: RL33863
Price: $29.95
Follow us on TWITTER at http://www.twitter.com/alertsPHP or #CRSreports
Document available via e-mail as a pdf file or in paper form.
To order, e-mail Penny Hill Press or call us at 301-253-0881. Provide a Visa, MasterCard, American Express, or Discover card number, expiration date, and name on the card. Indicate whether you want e-mail or postal delivery. Phone orders are preferred and receive priority processing.
Posts
