The DREAM Act: The need to expand Latino political influence
by Orlando Rodriguez
Photo by JustinValas
The DREAM Act passed in the House of Representatives in December because of overwhelming support from Democrats. Gracias! The vast majority of Yes votes – 208 – were from Democrats. Only eight Republicans voted for the DREAM Act, and five were minorities. But the DREAM Act did not pass in the Senate, so the House will have to vote again on this legislation. There were 257 Democrats in the House in December; now there are only 192. About 218 votes are needed to pass the DREAM Act, so it is unlikely it will pass anytime soon because there are too many Anglo Republicans to vote against it. Unless…
We have to put enough Latino “voters” in Republican districts to influence Anglo Republicans in the House. And now is a good opportunity to do this. Every 10 years, the boundaries of congressional districts change to reflect changes in population over the previous 10 years. This is called redistricting, and it is going on now: the first