Reid said he expected full support from Democrats, but needed a few Republicans to vote for the bill. “I have the right to bring that up any time I want, that’s why I brought it up the first time,” he said. “I am a believer in our needing to do something. … We all support the DREAM Act. I just need a handful of Republicans to help me.”

He didn’t seem to expect support from Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.), who once supported the bill but has since shifted far to the right on immigration issues. Reid blamed him, at least in part, for stalling the immigration reform effort this session. “As a result of his unwillingness to help, we have not had a single Republican offer to help us with comprehensive immigration reform,” Reid said. “The system is broken and all they want to do is demagogue the issue.”

Reid didn’t name names when it came to which Republicans he hoped would vote for the DREAM Act during the lame duck session. Sen. Richard Lugar (R-Ind.) is an almost certain “yes” vote, but other Republicans’ positions remain unclear. Sen. Orrin Hatch (R-Utah) was an original sponsor, but has since wavered in his support and voted in September for a filibuster of the defense authorization bill that would have served as a vehicle for the act. Maine Sens. Olympia Snowe and Susan Collins also voted to filibuster, but might support the DREAM Act as a standalone bill.

In September, bill sponsor Sen. Dick Durbin (D-Ill.) said he hoped senators who lost their elections would vote for the bill. “Some members of the Senate who are not going to return may vote in our favor,” Durbin said. “I hope that’s the case.”

Immigrant rights advocates, and particularly young people who could benefit from the bill, have lobbied hard for the DREAM Act in recent months as comprehensive immigration reform began to look increasingly unlikely. Reid announced plans on Sept. 14 to insert the act into the defense authorization bill along with a controversial repeal of “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell.” But Republicans filibustered the bill, killing off chances of passing the DREAM Act before November.

If Republicans win additional seats in the Senate next week — and it seems certain they will — the bill would probably be dead until at least 2012. Sen. Dick Durbin (D-Ill.), the bill’s chief sponsor, re-introduced the act the day after the defense authorization bill was filibustered. At the time, he said he hoped it could pass during a lame-duck session. “Some members of the Senate who are not going to return may vote in our favor,” he said. “I hope that’s the case.”

Reid’s decision to move forward with the bill pleased immigrant rights groups, the Huffington Post reports:

“The DREAM Act would give a group of young immigrants here without immigration status through no fault of their own the chance to attend college, serve in the military and earn citizenship,” said Frank Sharry, executive director of America’s Voice. “These valedictorians, future scientists and future soldiers are Americans in all but paperwork, and we are thrilled that Senator Reid is committed to moving this common-sense measure before the end of the year.”

“We support and will be looking for viable efforts to pass the DREAM Act after the election,” said Center for American Progress Vice President for Immigration Policy Advocacy Angela Kelley. “In order for that to happen however, like-minded Republicans will have to step forward and show their support for this modest measure to provide relief to young people. There hasn’t been a lot to suggest that bipartisan constructive conversation on immigration is possible, but I’d love to be proven wrong.”

Of course, Reid may be one of the senators on the way out, depending on whether he is able to defeat Republican Sharron Angle on Tuesday. The Nevada Senate race has become largely about immigration, as Reid tries to play up his immigration reform support and Angle attacks him for it. The DREAM Act has widespread backing among Latino voters, who Reid has said should support Democrats based on immigration concerns. When Reid inserted the DREAM Act into the defense authorization bill, observers said it might be an attempt to win over Latino voters who were disappointed by the lack of comprehensive immigration reform bill. The most recent statement could be considered another attempt to win over the demographic before the election.

Angle, of course, is banking on Reid’s actions with the DREAM Act driving voters into her camp. Her ads accuse the DREAM Act of giving “preferred college tuition rates” to illegal immigrants, along with a number of other questionable statements.

The DREAM Act would allow states to provide in-state tuition to undocumented students by repealing a 1996 ban on benefits for illegal immigrants. It’s a controversial move, but one some states have already bypassed: Ten states have passed their own laws allowing illegal immigrants to qualify for in-state tuition if they have attended high school in the state for at least three years.

Nevada, for the record, does not provide in-state tuition to illegal immigrants.

Here’s the ad:

The argument that the DREAM Act allows non-natives to take up space and resources in public universities was also used by California gubernatorial candidate Meg Whitman (R), who said this weekend the DREAM Act would “favor undocumenteds” over citizens.

The question is whether “favor” or “preferred” is an accurate term for what the DREAM Act would allow. While the bill would repeal the section of the 1996 Illegal Immigration Reform and Immigrant Responsibility Act that bans tuition benefits for undocumented students, it would not require states to adopt such standards. It would simply remove the legal obstacles for those that have already chosen to do so: California, Illinois, Kansas, Nebraska, New Mexico, New York, Oklahoma, Texas, Utah and Washington. Other states would then be free to determine for themselves whether to offer in-state tuition to illegal immigrants.

While DREAM Act supporters say this would simply help U.S.-educated students attend college, conservatives argue the DREAM Act created an incentive for illegal immigrants to enter the U.S. and would hurt chances for citizens to get financial aid. Michelle Malkin made this case in September:

Open-borders lawmakers have tried and failed to pass the DREAM Act through regular channels for the past decade. That’s because informed voters know giving green cards to illegal alien students undermines the rule of law, creates more illegal immigration incentives and grants preferential treatment to illegal alien students over law-abiding native and naturalized American students struggling to get an education in tough economic times.

Right now, the DREAM Act is stalled in Senate after an unsuccessful attempt to attach it to the defense authorization bill. Sen. Dick Durbin (D-Ill.) has promised to push for the bill during the lame duck session.

“Our concern is those individuals who are using illegal immigrants to attack the entire Latino community,” Ben Monterroso of the Mi Familia Vota Civic Engagement Campaign said on a conference call today. “It’s not enough to say you like and respect Latinos if you’re not going to do anything for the community as a whole.”

The organization is working with Latino groups around the country to register and mobilize voters — supposedly a nonpartisan effort, although highly critical of Republican politicians who have spoken out against immigration reform or in support of harsh enforcement. Latino voters support immigration reform in large measures, and Republicans are unlikely to deliver it. The Republican “Pledge to America,” purportedly a breakdown of the party’s legislative priorities, notably glosses over immigration reform in favor of increasing enforcement.

Reform advocates said their mobilization effort will encourage Latino voters to turn out in large numbers to vote for candidates who will enact Latino-friendly legislation.

Another major selling point for Latinos is the DREAM Act, which would allow some undocumented students and members of the military to gain legal status if they entered the country as children. Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid attempted to insert the act into this year’s defense authorization bill, but the bill was filibustered by Republicans. (The bill also contained a repeal of “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell,” another highly contested measure.)

This was upsetting to Latino voters, who overwhelmingly support the DREAM Act. About 72 percent of Latinos believe the act should have been passed as part of the defense bill, Matt Barreto of Latino Decisions said on the call. Advocacy groups purchased Spanish-language ads last week arguing Republicans do not support the DREAM Act or other immigrants rights legislation.

Republicans have attempted to pin the failure of immigration reform on Democrats — a bold strategy, considering their actions on the DREAM Act and lack of support for comprehensive legislation proposals. Sen. John Cornyn (R-Texas) criticized Obama last week for not making immigration a priority.

Which Republicans may come around? In 2007, 12 Republicans voted for the DREAM Act’s passage. Only seven are still in the Senate, and they all voted to filibuster the defense authorization bill last week. While some objected to the bill being inserted into the defense bill, others seem more likely to now oppose the DREAM Act in general — meaning passage as a standalone is far from a sure thing.

Utah Sens. Bob Bennett and Orrin Hatch are in the “secure the borders first” camp, arguing immigration reform must be preceded by stricter enforcement efforts. “The American people want the government to secure our borders, create jobs and reduce the deficit.” Hatch said to explain his “no” vote on the DREAM Act.

Sen. Sam Brownback (R-Kans.) may also be tough to sway. He is running for Kansas governor and has said he opposes “amnesty” for illegal immigrants even though he supported paths to legal status such as the DREAM Act in the past.

Sen. Kay Bailey Hutchinson (Texas) focused her criticism of the defense authorization bill on the inclusion of non-defense items in the bill. (The DREAM Act would have an impact on the military and would likely ease recruitment.)

Maine Sens. Susan Collins and Olympia Snowe could be more likely to vote for the DREAM Act as a standalone bill. Collins said she joined the filibuster because Majority Leader Harry Reid unfairly limited Republican amendments to the defense authorization bill, not because she opposed the substance of his planned amendments. Snowe also stayed quiet on the DREAM Act when discussing her decision to filibuster.

Sen. Richard Lugar (Ind.) seems like a likely “yes” vote for the DREAM Act if it is pushed as a standalone bill. Lugar is a co-sponsor of the bill in its current iteration and has indicated he would support the bill’s passage this year.

When the defense authorization bill failed to clear cloture Tuesday, Democrats needed a measure to fill floor time before the weekend, and the DISCLOSE Act was one of the few measures in their legislative arsenal that was quickly available.

Having failed cloture once, the campaign bill only requires a less strict “motion to recommit” from Reid to call another cloture vote. New legislation likely would need 30 hours after being filed, 30 hours the Senate doesn’t have.

So even if Democrats know they’re likely short of votes Thursday, the alternative was practically nothing

Shiner’s logistical insight is revealing, but not mutually exclusive, of course, with other reasons Democrats felt compelled to call another vote on the bill. As far back as July, when the DISCLOSE Act first failed to overcome a GOP filibuster in the Senate before recess, Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.) vowed to bring it up again because the bill’s a win-win, as far as Democratic strategists are concerned: pass it, and enact much needed campaign finance reform, or fail to pass it, and gain more ammunition to target Republicans as in the pockets of big business and special interest groups. With that kind of non-deficit increasing card in his back pocket, it makes perfect sense for Reid to play it during every moment of Senate downtime.

But if not now, when will it possible to pass the DREAM Act? It’s unclear when the Senate could next take up the bill. There is very little time left before the Senate leaves again for its pre-election recess, and afterward it may be tough to pass legislation in a lame duck session.

“The legislative calendar for this year is growing very short,” Ira Mehlman of the anti-immigration reform group FAIR told TWI. “It’s a certainty that there’s going to be a lame duck session. As you get closer and closer to the end of congress, it’s going to be more difficult to pass the DREAM Act.”

FAIR opposes the DREAM Act. But some supporters of immigration reform also voiced doubts that Reid will be able to pull off passage this year. The main issue is Republican support. While some senators, such as Sen. Richard Lugar (R-Ind.) might vote for the DREAM Act on its own, many others have said they would not support the measure.

Mary Giovagnoli, director of Immigration Policy Center, says today’s vote could indicate Republicans would be unwilling to support the DREAM Act in the future. “It’s pretty clear that it was a party line vote,” she told TWI this afternoon. “Consequently, unless some Republicans are brave enough to step over the line, it’s going to remain gridlocked.”

Despite challenges, supporters said they will continue to push for legislation to help illegal immigrants who came to the U.S. as children gain legal status through school or military service. Rep. Luis Gutierrez (D-Ill.), one of the main advocates of comprehensive immigration reform in Congress, said “the fight is not over” for the DREAM Act.

“All we need is a small handful of relatively brave Republican Senators to step up to let the debate move forward, which could happen tomorrow if they choose to put the people before politics,” Gutierrez said in a statement.

Immigrants rights advocates said they will continue to put the heat on Republicans to support the DREAM Act, specifically those they believe might support the DREAM Act as a standalone bill or amendment to another piece of legislation.

Efforts to add the DREAM Act to the defense authorization bill failed Tuesday when Republicans filibustered the bill. (Mark Samala/ZUMApress.com)

Senate Republicans filibustered the defense authorization bill Tuesday afternoon, ending a push by Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.) to pass the DREAM Act, which would provide legal status to some undocumented immigrants in exchange for school or military service, and a repeal of Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell as amendments to the legislation.

The defense authorization bill has been passed for the past 48 consecutive years. It failed to move to the Senate floor today in a 56-43 vote, with no “yea” votes by Republicans.

The main argument marshaled against continuing with the defense bill was that both a Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell repeal and the DREAM Act have too little relevance to defense. But both proposals have major implications for those who serve — or wish to serve — in the military. A repeal of Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell would allow gays and lesbians to serve openly, without fear their sexual orientation would lead to discharge from the military. The DREAM Act would allow illegal immigrants who came to the U.S. as children to earn legal status by serving in the military or attending two years of college, providing what many have said would be a needed boost for military recruitment.

After the filibuster, Reid said he will continue to push for the DREAM Act, which was originally proposed in 2001 by Sen. Orrin Hatch (R-Utah) — who voted against bringing the defense authorization bill to the floor today. The DREAM Act has come up several times since 2001 but only went to a vote as a standalone bill once, in 2007. Although he did not specify a timeline, Reid said today the act is not dead.

“We’re going to vote on the DREAM Act, it’s just a question of when,” Reid said after the filibuster. “This isn’t the end of this. We’re going to continue to move on.”

The vote was a major disappointment to immigration reform advocates and GLBT rights supporters. Rea Carey, executive director of the National Gay and Lesbian Task Force, said in a statement the senators “who led and supported the filibuster effort should be ashamed.”

Mary Giovagnoli, director of Immigration Policy Center, told TWI the vote showed “a lack of leadership” by Republican senators. “This was clearly putting procedural wrangling and partisan politics over social issues that are clearly something the American public wants action on,” she said.

Democrats needed at least one Republican to vote to move forward with the bill to stop a Republican filibuster. But procedural squabbles deterred Republicans from voting for the legislation, arguing that Reid was denying them the chance to amend the bill.

Reid previously said he would allow only three amendments: a repeal of Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell; the DREAM Act; and an amendment to ban the practice of placing “secret holds” on presidential nominees.

Sen. Carl Levin (D-Mich.), chairman of the Senate Armed Services Committee, repeatedly quoted a floor statement by Reid last Thursday, when Reid said he was “willing to work with Republicans on a process that will permit the Senate to consider these matters and complete the bill as soon as possible.”

But Republicans argued the short timetable before a pre-election recess would prevent them from adding enough amendments. Two moderate Republicans who Democrat leaders hoped would vote for moving forward with the bill, Maine Sens. Susan Collins and Olympia Snowe, decided to vote against cloture for this reason.

“I will defend the right of my colleagues to offer amendments on this issue and other issues that are being brought up in connection with the defense authorization bill,” Collins said this morning. “They need to have a civil, fair and open debate on the Senate floor.”

To that end, Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) proposed a motion to move to debating the bill only if Democrats would agree that none of the first 20 amendments would relate to immigration — effectively killing off the chance that Reid could add the DREAM Act to the defense authorization bill. He also tried to get Reid to agree to allow Republicans and Democrats to offer amendments in an alternating order. “We should start work on this bill and tackle the unrelated issues later,” McConnell said. Reid objected and brought the bill to a vote.

Many Republicans’ arguments against moving the bill to the floor were rooted in their opposition to a Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell repeal or to the DREAM Act. Some Republicans also argued a repeal of Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell would be inappropriate, because the Department of Defense has not yet completed its review of how the policy would impact the military. The proposed amendment would have remained pending until review was completed and submitted to the president, secretary of defense and chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff.

Opponents of the DREAM Act also relied on the argument that it did not belong in the defense authorization bill to begin with. “We’ve opposed the DREAM Act on its merits and we were certainly opposed to the use of the military authorization bill as a vehicle to reward people who are in the country illegally,” Ira Mehlman, a spokesman for the pro-enforcement group FAIR, told TWI after the vote.

But the DREAM Act has supporters in the defense community. The Department of Defense’s Strategic Plan for the 2010 to 2012 fiscal years recommends passage of the DREAM Act as a way to help the military “shape and maintain a mission-ready All Volunteer Force.”

Colin Powell, former chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff and a retired general, encouraged Republicans to vote for the DREAM Act during an appearance on Meet the Press Sunday. “We can’t be anti-immigration,” Powell said. “Immigrants are fueling this country. Without immigrants, America would be like Europe or Japan with an aging population and no young people coming in to take care of it. We have to educate our immigrants. The DREAM Act is one way to do that.”

Moving forward, immigrant rights advocates said they will continue to pressure Senators to support the DREAM Act, whether it be as a standalone bill or an amendment to another piece of legislation.

“This isn’t lost,” Juan Escalante, a spokesperson for The DREAM is Coming, told TWI. “We’re going to push Senator Reid to make sure the DREAM Act happens in another way.”

During a floor speech today, Collins said she is in a tough position: She supports a repeal of Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell, but opposes Reid’s decision to allow only two amendments to the defense authorization bill. Reid said he would limit amendments to three: a repeal of Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell; the DREAM Act; and an amendment to ban the practice of placing “secret holds” on presidential nominees.

“I will defend the right of my colleagues to offer amendments on this issue and other issues that are being brought up in connection with the defense authorization bill,” Collins said. “They need to have a civil, fair and open debate on the Senate floor.”

Snowe released a statement yesterday with a similar message:

It is therefore imperative that Senate deliberations on the defense bill be conducted without limitations and in a manner that allows for the consideration of all related amendments that Senators may wish to offer.

There is one crucial difference between the two senators: While Collins said she would likely support a Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell amendment if the bill proceeds, Snowe said she thinks the Senate should wait until a military review of the policy has been completed.

Sen. Carl Levin (D-Mich.) indicated today that Reid is willing to listen, quoting Reid’s statement on the Senate floor last week that he is “willing to work with Republicans on a process that will permit the Senate to consider these matters and complete the bill as soon as possible.”

Levin argued Republicans should approve cloture, then can vote down any amendments they oppose after the Senate has debated them.

“That ability to stop the completion of this bill is there, but first we have to get to the bill,” he said.

The vote on whether to move forward will take place at 2:30 p.m. EST.

Whether Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid has the votes to proceed is still unknown — Reid is “hopeful,” his spokesman told TWI in an email — but he plans to proceed with the bill this week anyway.

The defense authorization bill has been passed for the past 48 consecutive years and is expected to pass if Democrats can break a filibuster by Republicans and get it to the floor. But that’s a big “if.” While Maine Republican Sens. Olympia Snowe and Susan Collins are reportedly on the fence, other Republicans are expected to vote against bringing the bill to the floor.

Reid’s plans to add the DREAM Act and a repeal of Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell to the bill upped the stakes for the bill, but they also have brought significant opposition from Republicans. Some argue the plans are bad policy, because the military has not yet completed its study on how a repeal of Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell would impact troop readiness. Others, though, oppose the measures because they argue Reid is simply playing politics with the defense bill.

If Reid gets the votes, the Senate will likely have to put the bill aside during its pre-election recess and take it up again after November.