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SALT LAKE CITY — A bill introduced in Congress earlier this month would protect immigrants who were brought to the U.S. illegally as children, often referred to as "Dreamers." But Utah's senators are unlikely to support the legislation.
The Dream Act of 2023 would allow 1.9 million eligible immigrants in that category to obtain legal status, including 600,000 recipients of the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program. Currently, there is no path for them to adjust their status to become legal permanent residents or citizens.
Sens. Mitt Romney and Mike Lee both said they have yet to review the current version of the act, which has been proposed a dozen times since Sens. Orrin Hatch and Dick Durbin first introduced it in 2001.
"My view of the bill in the past was it was too broad," Romney said. "And I looked for providing a pathway to citizenship perhaps for those that have gone to college or community college and made an additional effort on their own."
Admittance to a college or university, or evidence of earning a high school diploma, are among the requirements that immigrants would need to meet to qualify for the Dream Act of 2023. Other requirements include passing a background check, paying an application fee and demonstrating that they have no felony or multiple misdemeanor convictions.
Lee's office said the senator has opposed previous iterations of the bill because he believes they "create perverse incentives that inevitably perpetuate illegal immigration."
"Sen. Lee is focused on stopping the problem at our southern border. The Dream Act would in no way alleviate the unprecedented surge of immigrants illegally crossing our southern border, and would likely perpetuate the problem we are currently experiencing for decades to come," Lee's communications director Lee Lonsberry said over email. "Until we resolve the severe crisis unfolding on our southern border, we cannot provide a pathway to citizenship for millions whose parents flouted our laws to bring them here."
In December, community organizers gathered in downtown Salt Lake City to call on Romney to work on legislation to protect those "Dreamers" who were brought to the U.S. illegally as children from deportation.
"We're not just tired of living in limbo; we are done. We're not just tired of living in fear and having our family separated; we are done. We would like to encourage Mitt Romney to finally see us, to finally stand up for us, to finally stand with our community," Sol Vargas Carrillo, Comunidades Unidas senior organizer, said during the demonstration. "In general, the Latino community has supported Romney's election again and again, and now it's time that he supports us."
