DREAM Act Attached to Department of Justice Reauthorization Bill

Downloadable:  English Press Statement

October 1, 2004
Press Release                Contact: Eunsook Lee, 323 . 937. 3703
For Immediate Release                                    Dae Joong Yoon, 323 . 937 . 3718
                                     Kent Chaegu Lee, 770 . 506 . 9158
                                     Yu Soung Mun, 718 . 460 . 5600

DREAM Act Attached to Department of Justice Reauthorization Bill

[Los Angeles]  The National Korean American Service & Education Consortium (NAKASEC), and its affiliates the Korean Resource Center (Los Angeles), Korean American Resource & Cultural Center (Chicago), and YKASEC-Empowering the Korean American Community (New York) welcome the news of the DREAM Act getting attached to the Department of Justice (DOJ) Appropriations Authorization Act (S. 2863).  NAKASEC and affiliates remain confident that this student legalization legislation will pass this year.

On September 30, 2004, the DREAM Act was attached to the Department of Justice Reauthorization bill, making significant movement in the Senate.  The last time the DREAM Act saw movement was in last October when it passed the Senate Judiciary Committee by a 16-3 margin.  The DOJ Authorization bill is scheduled for mark up in the Senate Judiciary Committee next Tuesday, October 5, 2004.  The House version of the DOJ bill (H.R. 3036) has already passed in the House floor, without the Student Adjustment Act attached to it.  Should the Senate DOJ Authorization bill pass through committee and on the floor, the two DOJ bills will go into Conference Committee during adjournment, where the differences of the bills will be hashed out and brought to a compromise.

Eunsook Lee, executive director of NAKASEC stated, “Due to our 2-week fast action we were able to revive the DREAM Act and bring it back for Congressional discussion.  While this brings us a step closer to passing the DREAM Act, we still have to make sure that the crippling amendments that Senator Dianne Feinstein (D-CA) and Senator Chuck Grassley (R-IA) is removed from the entire language of the bill.  Especially the Student Exchange Visa Information System (SEVIS) amendment, which would require undocumented students to automatically give their information to a broad database, originally created to streamline terrorism.”

NAKASEC and its affiliates continue to monitor the legislations and will conduct targeted advocacy efforts in the few days that lead up to the mark up date of the Senate DOJ Appropriations Authorization Bill.  We also encourage community members to call our centers to find out more information on how to urge our Congressional Representatives.  

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