http://www.wnd.com/index.php?fa=PAGE.view&pageId=234869Activists who support federal taxpayer subsidies for tuition for illegal aliens as proposed under the so-called DREAM Act are aiming their attacks at Sen. Kay Bailey Hutchison, R-Texas, for her decision to vote against the plan in the current lame duck session of Congress.
On Monday night, 15 college students and activists including former San Antonio Councilwoman Maria Berriozabal and a Methodist minister were arrested on charges of criminal trespass for their refusal to leave Hutchison's San Antonio office, according to the San Antonio News.
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Just days earlier, students across University of Texas campuses in Austin, Dallas, Arlington, Brownsville and Edinburg, as well as the University of North Texas in Denton, joined San Antonio students in a hunger strike aimed at pressuring Hutchison to reverse her DREAM Act opposition.
Hutchison has not been able to calm the anger of DREAM Act proponents, despite having held meetings with activists in Washington and in Texas.
Since last Wednesday, WND has found Hutchison's office in Washington, D.C., so inundated with phone calls that repeated efforts to telephone were met by a busy signal throughout office business hours.
"The senator appreciates the passion of these young people for their cause, but she has been clear that she does not support the current DREAM Act legislation," a Hutchison spokesman finally e-mailed WND. "The senator and her staff have met with people from many parts of Texas on the issue."
In a statement issued from her Washington office last week, Hutchison explained she would not support the DREAM Act because it "goes far beyond the intended group of children who grew up in the United States and attended primary and secondary schools here."
Supporters of the legislation argue the bill would provide a "pathway to citizenship" for illegal immigrants brought to the United States before the age of 16, who have graduated from high school, or have a GED certificate, and have no criminal record, provided they attend a college or university for two years or serve in the military for two years, prior to the age of 35.
The DREAM Act, as explained by radio talk-show host Roger Hedgecock in a WND column on Monday, offers "lawful permanent residence" as defined by the bill to any illegal immigrant under the age of 35 who has graduated from high school or has a GED, provided they have been admitted to an "institution of higher education," and completed two years of study within eight years, even if no degree is earned.
"With 'comprehensive immigration reform' dead because of voter awareness that this is code speak for blanket amnesty for 'undocumented Democrats,' the new amnesty is called the DREAM Act," Hedgecock wrote. "Democrats are determined to push for congressional votes on the DREAM Act this week."
Though he is not drawing similar flak, Texas Republican Sen. John Cornyn also has pledged to oppose the DREAM Act.
"I'm certainly sympathetic to the plight of these kids who through no fault of their own, find themselves in this predicament," Cornyn told the Dallas News. "But the kind of games that Majority Leader Reid is playing here seem more designed to play politics than they do actually to try to solve the problem."
Cornyn added that the DREAM Act "is not the highest agenda item when it comes to immigration reform."
WND reported just days ago that the proposal could cost U.S. taxpayers up to $44 billion a year for loans for the "students" benefiting from the program.
That's because under the Development, Relief and Education of Alien Minors proposal, up to 2.1 million new "students" would be qualified to borrow up to $21,000 each every year.
Topic: Immigration activists target Texas senator (Read 1186 times)